


Lucky Lucky

by noelre



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Angst, Friendship/Love, M/M, Unrequited Love, dub-con
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-17
Updated: 2014-06-05
Packaged: 2018-01-19 18:48:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 8
Words: 29,896
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1480186
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/noelre/pseuds/noelre
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There are few things in life that Takao is serious about, but confessing his love used not to belong to them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Takao could pinpoint the exact moment when the admiration had begun. During middle school, he had only played one game against Midorima, but it had been more than enough to light a fire inside him. Midorima’s shooting form had been simply beautiful – there weren’t many players like him around –, and Takao had been star struck, to put it mildly. They lost the game, obviously, but ever since then he had looked up to the other, although he wasn’t always willing to admit it.

 

He also knew when _that_ had happened. Few months after enrolling to Shutoku and becoming part of the team, after befriending Midorima in what now seemed to be a deadly short period of time, he had jerked off for the first time to the thought of him. It was an innocent beginning, but Takao hadn’t thought twice about it; so he found his friend a good jerk-off material, so what? It wasn’t until the feeling lingered on every-day life that he became worried. Partly, at least. He was completely, irresistibly, irrevocably in love with his precious Shin-chan. Had Midorima known, he would surely freak out.

 

Per usual, Midorima’s form looked gorgeous. Takao heaved out a sigh and gave the ball spinning on the tip of his finger some more speed. How many shots had Midorima now taken, twenty, thirty? The evening was still so young, and Takao knew that going home wasn’t an option anytime soon. He stretched his legs, and in the moment the ball dropped, bounced loudly against the floor and messed up Midorima’s rhythm. Although the shot was off, it still hit its target. The sound of the net swishing was fulfilling. Takao tilted his head and grinned. _As great as ever, huh?_ He smirked some more when he met the heated glare coming from half a court’s length and picked up another ball for himself.

 

Truthfully, he didn’t mind this, hanging out after practice until the sun went down and the track of time was completely lost. It gave him a great chance to stare at Midorima, stare at him some more, and prepare the next fantasy for him to use in bed later in the evening. He lowered his gaze to the spinning ball. Life had gotten just a bit easier when he had admitted to himself that he was perhaps attracted to his friend in the worst way possible. When he admitted it, it was a good day. On the bad days, he refused to have discussions about it with himself. Today was quite a good day.

 

The net swished again, and Takao glanced up. Before he could focus his gaze properly on Midorima, the same sound filled the space, followed by a huff. Was Midorima already getting tired? That was pretty unusual. Takao moistened his lips and stopped the ball. His fingertip ached, but after a moment he continued again. He thought of Midorima and him on the bed being _very_ tired and _very_ exhausted by other kind of activities, and grinned again. He would love to see that. Slowly his gaze trailed back to the ball spinning right in front of his face. How would Midorima react if he’d whisper _Shin-chan, Shin-chan_ in his ear over and over again during sex? It was getting dangerously hot, and Takao did his best to concentrate on the ball. It was not much of a use. His thoughts trailed off.

 

“—kao. Takao.”

 

“Huh?” He jolted and glanced up at Midorima, who had his hands crossed over his chest and towered tall right in front of him. Takao blinked. The balls from the court were gone, and they were all neatly placed to their rightful places. How long had he been out of this world? He asked, “You done already, Shin-chan?”

 

“Yes. Let’s go.”

 

“Mm…”

 

Takao pushed himself up on his feet and threw the ball among the others. With lazy steps he walked next to Midorima and pulled up the zipper of his hoodie. Quiet huffs came from Midorima’s direction, which made him frown. It _was_ indeed Midorima making such sounds – his hair was glued on his forehead, and the glistening sweat was wiped off with the back of the palm. Even the fingers were back hiding under the tape, and Takao realized that he had really been lost in his thoughts.

 

“How many did you do today?” he asked.

 

“Seventy-seven.” Midorima pulled his jacket on and adjusted his glasses. Some days Takao felt overwhelmed – also intimidated – by their height difference, and today was one of those days for sure. He felt like a kid beside the other.

 

He chuckled, however. “Let me guess, your lucky number for today?”

 

Although there was no answer, he knew he had hit the spot. He nudged Midorima’s arm, said, “In that case, good job today, Shin-chan,” and switched the lights off behind them. The chill of the evening was unbelievable, and he quivered. However, even the mere sight of the rickshaw was just enough to warm him up, knowing fully well that he was the one pulling it again. A quick set of rock-paper-scissor made sure of it again, and with ease he settled himself over the bike. A light sigh escaped him as he glanced over his shoulder. Midorima looked rather good when he relaxed in the cart, and also absolutely hilarious with the extremely fluffy and extremely pink stuffed toy.

 

“What’s wrong?” Midorima asked. The frown hardly suited his beautiful face.

 

“Nothing, nothing at all.” Takao’s tone sang, the vowels prolonged, and he couldn’t help his smile. Lately, he had been nothing but smiles all day, but how could he not be? Although he rarely received one back from Midorima, it was still worth it, even when the corner of his lips ached sometimes.

 

He sneaked one more glance towards his friend and the deepening frown and the softness of the toy before he looked straight in front of him and began to pedal. It was as hard as ever, but he supposed it was good enough exercise. It wouldn’t have hurt if he got to enjoy the sights once in a while, though. He also wouldn’t have minded to get a great view of Midorima’s ass, especially on the hills that he disliked so much. Takao chuckled under his breath. Oh, yes, Midorima’s ass would look gorgeous nestling under the fabric of the sweatpants, pushing out just a bit when it would become necessary to stand on the pedals to get even an inch forward. The mere thought made his groin ache.

 

It was a serene evening, and the chilliness that had danced on his skin in the shape of goose bumps soon turned to sweat. One day, just one day, he was going to get Midorima to pedal no matter what it took. Takao panted. If he wasn’t so ridiculously in love with the other, he really wouldn’t have bothered, but now he couldn’t help it. What he really wanted was to let the stuffed toy do the hard work so _he_ could get the chance to cuddle in Midorima’s arms. He huffed and pushed forward, his arms trembling slightly.

 

Like always, Midorima’s stop came first. Takao leaned against the bike’s bar and keenly examined the other’s movements towards the gate to his house. And like always, Midorima stopped by it and turned around, and they shared a look. Takao pressed his cheek against his knuckles and tilted his head.

 

“Want me to come over?”

 

Midorima shook his head. “I need to do the homework for math, I can’t—“

 

“Eeh, are you for real?! Shin-chan hasn’t done his homework, how strange!” The grin settled with ease back to Takao’s lips. “Are you okay? Are you having a fever? So strange!”

 

“Shut up.”

 

“Yes, yeeees.” Teasing Midorima simply had to be one of his favorite past times. It was also a great sight to see him getting flustered over nothing, which seemed to be the case now as well. Takao’s heart skipped a beat, and his chest clenched. _Too cute. Way too cute._ “I guess I’ll see you tomorrow, then! You better show me that math stuff before class, though…”

 

“Just this once,” Midorima said. It was always the same answer. Just this once. Just this once tomorrow, too. Just this once after tomorrow, too. It was _never_ just once, and Takao loved it. He absolutely loved it.

 

“Got it! G’night, Shin-chan.”

 

“Goodnight.”

 

Takao didn’t move an inch as he watched Midorima disappear to the darkness of the night. If an outsider would have listened to them, anyone would have deemed Midorima as cold and not caring because of the monotonous tone and the bossing around, but Takao liked to think he was loved in a really strange way. Really, really strange way, but he saw every ‘shut up’ and ‘just this once’ as tiny declarations of love.

 

Now he really had to get home, though. He desperately wanted to soil yet another pair of underwear to the thoughts of Midorima.

 

It didn’t take long for him to reach home. He gave his mother a quick goodnight and locked himself safely in his dark room. He felt giddy, and his feet trembled from excitement. For the whole day he had waited for this moment, and now that it was coming, he possibly couldn’t hold it any longer. He stripped himself but left the underwear on, and settled himself on the bed.

 

Lube, check. Tissues, check. His mind filled with thoughts of Midorima? Double-check.

 

The liquid felt cold against his fingertips. With his lube-free hand Takao lowered his boxers just enough to fit his hand below and squeezed his cock. A hum left his mouth, and he melted better against the mattress, parted his thighs. The first squeeze was heavenly, and the stroke that followed was pretty damn good. He licked his lips with the tip of his tongue and took a more comfortable position.

 

 _Okay, Shin-chan… What should I do to you tonight?_ He trailed his tongue over his bottom lip and squeezed his cock, imagined Midorima’s fingers instead of his own. A violent shudder pierced him. Too good, way too good. His fingers moved clumsily, precisely as he thought Midorima would do it – bashfully, and amazingly embarrassed. His Shin-chan would totally fluster over the sight, he would for sure. Takao huffed and rubbed the tip, his back arching to a curve. He was aching hard over the thought of the dark green hair and the sweaty forehead they would cover. Trailing the fingers to the base of his cock, he gripped hard again and grunted.

 

Boldly he moved his fingers over his scrotum and massaged himself, pressed the back of his head hard against the pillow. _Do you like the sight?_ he asked from Midorima of his imagination and pressed his heels to the mattress, spread his thighs wider apart. Midorima wouldn’t even glance at his direction like this, would he? He thought of the precious fingers unwrapped, the tape laying in a bundle by the bed, and brought his fingertips to the puckered skin. The muscles clenched. With his free hand he palmed his balls and curled his toes to the sheets.

 

Midorima would do it gently and slowly. He couldn’t do it like so himself, and he pushed his finger inside wholly. Shuddering, he realized how much easier it felt after nights and nights of doing the same. His hand that stroked his cock again was clumsier than the other, and it barely felt like anything, but still he continued. He squirmed and grunted, his toes digging deeper to the sheets. _More_ , he begged from the imaginative Midorima who had gotten relaxed by now. _Do it more, Shin-chan, more, just a bit more…_ With ease he pushed another finger in and bit his lower lip to prevent his noises from echoing outside his room.

 

He thought of the flushed cheeks, the eyes wandering around his body behind the glasses, the big hands that would roam everywhere, the heat that would surely spread throughout Midorima, too. The images made heat spread to _his_ body for sure, and it settled deep to the pit of his abdomen. He rubbed over the tip again and quivered.

 

“Shin-chan…” he whispered to the dark room. No one answered. “Nnhn, Shin-chan…”

 

He came quicker than he expected. He huffed, and drowsily cracked his eyes opened. His heart sped up, it wanted to get through the ribcage, and his cock still twitched while now nestling against his stomach. Takao covered his eyes with his forearm, and slowly yet steadily the lingering images of Midorima trickled away. For a second he was guilt-tripping, but the feeling disappeared when he pulled his fingers out and tugged his pubic hair. He breathed hard, and not once had it sounded as ridiculously lonely as it did now.

 

Rolling to his side, he grabbed a tissue and cleaned whatever he could. His pulse hadn’t still calmed down, and blood gushed straight through his ears. Takao hesitated but grabbed his mobile after all, flipped it open and searched for Midorima’s contact. Calling wasn’t an option for sure – Midorima had too sharp ears and instincts and would only demand why he was out of breath. He hummed, and as the thought of somehow getting a hold of Midorima’s underwear swelled in his mind like a tidal-wave of good ideas, he typed a mail with lazy fingers.

 

To: Shin-chan

 _I’m hoping that Oha Asa is gentle with you tomorrow~_ (•‿•)

 

That should do it. He closed his phone and pressed it against his chin. It was no use, anyway, since Midorima never answered these types of mails. Takao sighed and threw the phone to the foot of the bed, stretched his limbs long and shuddered. Now that his heart was generously calming down, he could admit that it had been a good orgasm, once again. He grinned to the darkness and pushed himself up on his feet, swayed and stumbled. He tiptoed out of his room to get ready for bed and brush his teeth.

 

From the mirror in the bathroom a weird creature looked at him. A bit fatigued, to be honest, it wasn’t a very handsome sight. Takao pinched his cheek and yelped. His stomach churned and turned upside down, and the feeling didn’t disappear. He shoved the toothbrush in his mouth, sort of hoping it would be something bigger, thicker, and attached to Midorima, and shrugged to his reflection. It was okay, since it had been a good orgasm. He shouldn’t feel bad about it; Midorima would never know about it. He gave a testing grin to the mirror, and since it looked good, he grinned a bit more, genuinely now.

 

Suddenly, something chimed. Slowly but surely Takao’s eyes widened. Toothpaste trickled down his chin. He had heard his own things, for sure. He continued to brush the very last tooth, when the chime came again. This time he was sure of it – it was his phone. The toothbrush flew in a long arch to the sink as he rushed back to his room, frantic about finding the phone. When he retrieved it, he threw himself on the bed and felt surprisingly excited. Opening the phone, his heart leapt.

 

From: Shin-chan

_Shut up, Takao._

From: Shin-chan

_With that remark, I hope Scorpio places 12 th tomorrow._

Takao couldn’t believe it. Midorima had answered him, _he had answered him_ , and so quickly, too! He thought of all the biting and funny remarks he could send back but came up with nothing witty in the heat of the moment. He reread both of the mails twice, then thrice, and felt his chest bubble from joy. Laughter burst from his mouth. They were moments like these when he realized that his admiration had changed to _that_ , the feeling he had never really properly felt before. He wrote a quick goodnight mail, knowing that Midorima wouldn’t grant another reply, and placed the phone gently on the nightstand.

 

“I love you, Shin-chan,” he whispered to the phone and smirked widely.

 

Maybe it would really be time to do something about the feeling. Curling underneath the blanket, the strong taste of the toothpaste glued to his palate, but he couldn’t bother to get up anymore. He plotted a way he could confess his love, and considered himself rather lucky to have such an interesting and stimulating love interest in his life.


	2. Chapter 2

Takao pressed his forehead tight against the desk and tried to forget absolutely everything he had ever known about Pythagoras and the magical ways of triangles. He could do History just fine, even English, but Math was something he couldn’t simply wrap his fingers around. On happy occasions he understood something – like those equations that made him feel almost _genius_ –, but when it wasn’t finding about the mysterious X but something entirely different, he was out of his league. Thus, he ignored everything the teacher said and tried to fall asleep as the last warm rays of the Sun hit right to his spot.

 

Something small nudged his shoulder, though, and interrupted his peace. He grunted. If he had gotten just a minute or two more, he could have easily started snoring lightly. No one would have seen, either, since his spot was safely near the back… Slowly he pulled himself up and blinked, rubbed his eyes and yawned, and only then turned around. It had to be Midorima; no one else would bother with him when he looked ready to die of boredom.

 

“Don’t sleep,” came the silent order from one desk behind.

 

“I’m not,” he insisted but grinned when Midorima glared at him. It was so easy for Midorima to say with his neat notes and perfect skills of solving the puzzles that Mr. Pythagoras had so graciously left to the world. Takao sank back against the desk and pressed his cheek against his arm. He shifted his body in the search of a comfortable position when the sunshine would hit a really good spot. He didn’t get the chance to relax, when Midorima poked him again.

 

“Did you hear me?”

 

Already surprised that Midorima even _talked_ in class, Takao glanced at him over his shoulder again. He gave Midorima his biggest smirk and found the familiar signs of annoyance; the tightening lips, the twitching of the fingers and the tapping of the pencil. Midorima was too cute not to be teased.

 

“Don’t worry, Shin-chan, the teacher won’t notice!” The sound of the pencil hardened. Takao chuckled. “He even praised me for doing all my homework today… I’m a real model student now.”

 

Silence fell on the class, and Takao did the actual effort to look towards the chalkboard with zero interest. When the teaching continued, he turned back towards Midorima who stared through the window. Takao followed the gaze and leaned against his palm, dreamed of playing some street basketball. Soon it would be too cold for it.

 

Finally Midorima said, “That’s only because you copied them straight from me.”

 

“Oh, are you saying yourself that you’re a model student? You’re so cute, Shin-chan.”

 

“I— Shut up.”

 

Midorima blushed, he actually blushed! Takao felt like it was a very important mission accomplished, and the sight of the glowing cheeks made him feel giddy. Although Midorima was a complex guy, in situations like these it was rather easy to trick him and do pranks on him. Takao picked his pen and drew vague circles to the spots where triangles were meant to be. He hummed and colored one, made another with polka dots and licked his lips. The teacher kept going on, and he really couldn’t care less, so once again he turned around to face Midorima. The other looked pretty annoyed by now, which only fueled the fire in Takao.

 

“Want to come over after school today?” he asked. “Mom’s out of town, and I got the DVD of that one drama series, and I’m dying to see it. I want to watch it with you.”

 

“I—“

 

Abruptly, Midorima said nothing more. Takao huffed and frowned, wondered what he had done _now_ to deserve the cold silence, when his desk was banged. He jolted, and from the surprise his heart skipped a beat. Already knowing that the worst had happened from the reflection of Midorima’s glasses, he turned to look at the teacher who looked just as amused as Midorima. Takao smiled sheepishly and rubbed his nape.

 

“Go do the next exercise on the board, Takao.”

 

“Eh?!”

 

Giggles echoed from here to there; it was no secret that he had a love-hate – or rather, hate-hate – relationship with Math. He sighed and glanced through his notes that might have been correct thanks to Midorima, but he had no idea what all the numbers and symbols meant. Even so, he put on a brave face and his smile didn’t waver at all, although he murmured a soft, “Sheesh,” under his breath. This really sucked, but he guessed it was worth the hassle since he had gotten to tease Midorima.

 

As expected, he trying to solve the problem went like hell, but at least he had fun trying. When the triangle wasn’t completed in any way and the teacher got bored of him doing it in several ways possible, Takao skipped back to his place. He grinned to Midorima, and he could have sworn on all of his possession that he saw a hint of smile on the stern lips. The sight, or the mirage, made his heart speed up and his thoughts jumble. How was he supposed to concentrate on anything now? He turned his back at his friend and tried to calm his silly organ down. Yeah, he was in love, but he wasn’t going to be one of those fools that would get flustered over any little sign from his loved one.

 

A note landed right on the edge of his desk. He unfolded it and felt heat creep to his neck with an alarming speed. _I’ll come_ , it said with the neat letters of Midorima. All Takao’s efforts went to waste, and now he really did feel like one of the fools. He folded the note back to its original neatness and decided to save it for any rainy days, if those were ever going to happen. With mood and love like this, he highly doubted it.

 

The day went by in a heartbeat. He ate lunch with Midorima, spent his free period with Midorima, and even when they had separate classes, he still felt like he was with Midorima, since the thoughts never really left. It was the routine by now, and he didn’t really mind it at all, simply because it had woven sneakily into his daily life. Takao didn’t think twice about it, he just went with it and kind of liked every second of when his brains filled with the thoughts of Midorima. His mind nagged _Shin-chan, Shin-chan, Shin-chan_ , and his mouth followed throughout the day.

 

Eventually he leaned against the rickshaw at the front gate and gave lazy bye-byes to familiar faces passing him. Truthfully, he hadn’t lied to Midorima about the DVD, since he really had it and really wanted to watch it, but it wasn’t the number one reason why he had given the invitation. He wanted to test Midorima, wanted to give subtle little hints, and who knew, maybe Midorima would eventually catch on what was really going on. If it would end up in a polite refusal, well, at least he had tried. It was in fact the only thing he saw happening, as he couldn’t imagine Midorima being intimate with… anyone, really.

 

The corners of his mouth pulled up when the devil himself finally arrived. He said, “You really took your sweet time, didn’t you? I was already thinking of going ahead and making you walk home.”

 

“I was asked to stay behind the class.” Midorima swung his bag to the rickshaw, seemingly confident of his victory in today’s rock-paper-scissors.

 

“Oh? Did you get scolded?” Takao straightened himself up and prayed for his score to reach one today, just one tiny, tiny win would be more than enough. His legs were getting sore. He took a deep inhale and readied himself, squeezed his fingers to a fist and said, “Set, go!”

 

Again, he lost.

 

“The opposite,” Midorima answered when he climbed on the back. He had his smug-look on, Takao knew, even when his expression didn’t really reveal much.

 

Not defeated by his loss, Takao pedaled yet again. What was it with Midorima that he always won with no exception? Maybe next time he should try to think of a strategy before diving straight into the battle. The first hill up tested his strength per usual, and the way down made a not-so pleasant breeze slap him straight to the face. Thankfully it was a much shorter way to pedal straight home instead of dropping by Midorima’s place. His cheeks glowed and his breaths hitched, but as always, he was successful in this at least.

 

By the time he parked both the bike and the rickshaw safely to the yard, he had thought of at least ten ways to make Midorima squirm in agony and embarrassment. The quickest and most effective was definitely to kiss him, just like that, with no explanation. Takao chuckled to the thought. It was simply perfect, coming out of the blue, but also rather intimate. For so long he had wondered how Midorima’s lips would be like. Dry or moist, tasty or simply bland? Would the two of them exchange saliva, or would the kiss be a simple peck with barely any affection? He rooted for the saliva-exchanging as he led Midorima inside.

 

“Since Mom is gone, we can just watch it in the living room.” Takao threw his keys to a bowl and kicked his shoes off. “The DVD’s on the table, just set it up. You want anything? I’m so hungry!”

 

“Mm… Everything’s fine.”

 

Midorima left both his shoes and bag behind and went towards the living room. For a moment Takao looked after him with a tilted head before he grabbed himself a hair tie and wandered to the kitchen. He stared at the fridge while tying his bangs to a ponytail to his forehead, and glanced through all the shelves once more. When the familiar tune of the drama’s opening rang out from the living room, he took a quick bite of the leftover sandwich and made tea. Knowing Midorima, he wouldn’t probably want to eat anything any way. Takao shifted his weight from one foot to another, waited for the tea and eventually set out with two chocolate bars on his hand.

 

“Catch!” He threw one to Midorima’s lap and climbed to the couch while balancing two cups and his share of the chocolate. “That had to be a three-pointer, don’t you think? _Had_ to be, it was perfect.”

 

“Hardly worth one.” Midorima grabbed the other cup. “What’s with the hair-do?”

 

“This?” Takao flicked the short and messy ponytail. “I’ve lost my usual hairband, so I gotta use this. The bangs are really growing fast…”

 

“You should just go to a hairdresser.” Midorima looked back at the TV. “It looks ridiculous.”

 

There it was again, the tiny hint of a smile curling his lips higher. Takao bit the inside of his cheek and wanted to rejoice for seeing such a sight, but eventually he said nothing, just smiled silly on his own. The amount of Midorima’s smiles had really grown lately, and it made his heart skip funny beats here and there. Seeing them also made him smile every single time.

 

Knowing that Midorima wasn’t one to talk during dramas, Takao put the volume higher and relaxed on the couch. This was really comfortable, just him and his Shin-chan alone in the living room, hanging out. He watched Midorima’s profile more than the screen, and it was in one of the moments when he realized what a beauty he was. Not in a girly way, obviously, but in a very strange kind of way that also made his groin ache. Whenever he was caught staring, he smirked and quickly looked back at the TV.

 

He moistened his lips with the tip of his tongue and finished his tea, pulled his legs up and hugged them against his chest. He had already lost track of the events even when the drama had only rolled for a few funny minutes, and he ended up mainly staring it with a blank look. Midorima was really close, really, _really_ close, and he would only need to inch just a bit to the left for his body to touch the other’s… Of course, if that would happen, Midorima would pull away, as usual. Being touchy around him wasn’t an easy thing to do. Takao sighed and rested his chin on his knee, and suddenly felt almost lonely. He would do anything to simply be able to cuddle with Midorima, even if it wasn’t in the most traditional way. Holding hands would have been just fine!

 

No matter what, he would go through with his plan today. As soon as possible. Perhaps in few minutes.

 

The perfect excuse for it came when gasps from horrified women came from the TV. The main character had nice breasts, bouncy, probably worth touching, but it didn’t excite Takao as much as it had few months ago. He tilted his head and watched her stab her mother to death, followed by intense kissing with her romantic interest. It was such a strange show to be addicted to, really. The kiss seemed to go on forever, and he watched it rather intrigued. Midorima wouldn’t kiss so passionately. Suddenly, he noticed from the corner of his eye how Midorima shifted and adjusted his glasses. An obvious blush had crept to his face, and he seemed so hard to look everywhere but the screen and the noisy kiss. Takao stared at his friend and had to press his lips tight together.

 

“Ne, Shin-chan, have you ever wanted to do that?”

 

“Kill my own mother? Don’t be ridiculous.”

 

 _Such thickheaded cutie_. Takao chuckled. He couldn’t examine Midorima’s expression because the glasses were on the way, and the green bangs had dropped to shield his eyes as well. He curled his fingers to a loose fist and said, “I meant kissing. Have you ever kissed anyone?”

 

The blush deepened. Midorima glanced at the other side of the wall. “Don’t be ridiculous,” he muttered again.

 

“Does that mean you’ve never, ever kissed anyone?”

 

“That’s none of your business.”

 

“Come on, Shin-chan, give me some details.” His tone was as singsong-y as it could get.

 

Takao moved closer, and just as he had guessed it, Midorima moved farther away. His plan was genius, however, as soon there was no more room left in the couch, and Midorima was cornered. Takao got up to sit on his knees and leaned closer, examined the deep blush even more. It was so incredibly adorable that his heart was ready to burst out.

 

“Come on, Shin-chan. You can tell me,” he whispered.

 

Midorima looked really flustered. “You don’t have to be so close.”

 

“I kind of like it here.”

 

“I don’t.”

 

“So mean, so mean!” He leaned even closer, and his lips brushed over Midorima’s ear. The other shuddered, which only encouraged Takao’s urge to draw out even more reactions like that. He trailed the tip of his tongue over the curve of the ear right in front of him and whispered straight into it with his most lewd voice, “Want to try it with me?”

 

Finally Midorima looked at him, and for the first time in ages, Takao couldn’t make out the expression on the face so familiar to him. His eyes had widened, and although Midorima’s cheeks were still flushed, he didn’t look as flustered anymore as Takao thought he would be. _Don’t make that face_ , Takao wanted to say, _you’re making me look like a villain here._ For a split second he thought of abandoning his plan, simply because he couldn’t bear to see Midorima like that. However, the thoughts vanished and he leaned in, pressed his lips against Midorima’s without asking permission or any questions.

 

A cup shattered. Without even having to look, Takao knew that Midorima had dropped his tea on the floor.

 

The kiss felt rather awkward when he was the only one really kissing. Midorima’s lips were exactly as he had imagined, though, plump and little dry. The lack of response didn’t kill his enthusiasm, and he pushed his lips better against Midorima’s and placed his hand over the other’s thigh. He grunted and squeezed his eyes shut. It felt lovely, a bit moist when his saliva slicked the other pair of lips, and it tasted of tea. His nose flattened against Midorima’s, and finally Midorima grunted. The sound was quiet, almost tiny, and it lit a deeper flame within Takao’s abdomen.

 

He parted his lips and nudged his tongue between Midorima’s lips, and he supposed it was the final thing that really crossed the line. The hand that had already tried to push him away from the shoulder yanked him hard, and he fell on the couch on his ass. Takao blinked and watched Midorima’s slow movements of hiding his lips behind the back of his palm. Midorima’s whole body trembled, and now his cheeks were paler than ever. Takao parted his lips in an attempt to brush it off as a joke, but the words got stuck to his dried throat. Not even a single sound came out when he looked at the cringed expression on Midorima’s face, that the other did his best to cover up.

 

“Shin-chan…” He reached his hand forward and brushed Midorima’s arm.

 

Immediately Midorima got up and stood in the puddle of tea. “I have to go.”

 

“Huh?”

 

At first he thought it was a joke, but when his gaze automatically followed Midorima’s movements out of the living room, he realized that the other was really going. Takao hurried up to his feet, got his socks wet and stumbled behind Midorima. Suddenly it was hard to breathe, when his heart beat so madly and blood rushed through his veins. Watching Midorima hastily pull his shoes on his feet, he felt at loss.

 

“Shin-chan!” he tried again.

 

“No.” The bag flew on Midorima’s shoulder with no effort. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

 

“It was a joke!” Takao laughed but did it mostly out of disbelief. He stood in the hallway and spread his arms wide. Surely Midorima wouldn’t _actually_ leave like this, right? Confident about it, he dropped from the fluffy cloud of optimism when Midorima forced the door open and smashed it close right behind his back. With no other choice, Takao rushed out with his wet socks and trailed behind Midorima the whole way through the yard.

 

Just before Midorima was about to open the gate, Takao grasped the back of his shirt and yanked him backwards. Midorima turned around but didn’t even meet up with his gaze; instead, he stared straight through which was too high for him.

 

“It was a joke, Shin-chan, don’t get so mad about it.” Takao pulled on a smile. “Just a joke, you’re supposed to laugh! Come on, I was just teasing you.”

 

Silence fell, and Takao was sure he had managed to convince Midorima about it.

 

“I’m going.”

 

His heart dropped to his stomach when Midorima got out of his grasp and disappeared through the gate. Takao's hand still stayed on the air, his fingers curled around the invisible shirt that he had just held. His chest clenched, and it felt like he was going to have a heart attack. What was this feeling? He laughed a little, but his forehead crunched to a frown. Tiptoeing through the gate to the street, he watched Midorima’s disappearing back and shouted, “Let me at least take you home!”

 

He didn’t get an answer.

 

He stood still on the street. By now his socks were completely drenched, and it made him shudder. He crossed his hands over his chest but ended up hugging himself. Midorima was being way too serious about this, it had practically been a stupid joke like the ones he always pulled on him. Takao licked his lips and could still taste the tea on them. No matter what, he had liked the kiss. It didn’t really feel like worth it, though, since the plan had backfired majorly.

 

When he couldn’t feel his toes anymore, Takao finally gave up. He dragged himself back inside and tried to make something out of Midorima’s expression. It hadn’t been completely flustered, but not entirely angry, either. He rubbed his temples and groaned. This was getting way too serious! Maybe by tomorrow Midorima had just conveniently forgotten it… He sighed. There wasn’t really any hope of that, since Midorima was the opposite kind of guy. In the living room Takao crouched to pick up the pieces of the broken cup and pouted. It wasn’t like he had done something awful, it had just been a little peck!

 

He smashed the shards on the table and rubbed his forehead. He ended up laughing, and he laughed so hard that it made his stomach ache and his lungs complain. This was so like Midorima, to get flustered over a kiss! God… When the laughter died and his chest didn’t vibrate anymore from the power of it, Takao did his best to ignore the tight knot that began to form to the bottom of his stomach. He glanced at the drama series that was still running, closed the TV and started to clean the floor. Every now and then his heart gave him hollow thumps, and his lips tingled from the memory of the loveliest kiss he had ever taken.


	3. Chapter 3

To tell the truth, Takao hadn’t slept even an eyeful. He had tossed and turned in the bed, thought about Midorima, then thought about everything _but_ Midorima, and then a bit of Midorima again. In his head he had went through several options of possible conversations they could have, and all the possible explanations he could tell when Midorima would bring it up. His number one choice had been, again, _it was just a joke_. Second choice – _I’m just a horny teenager._ Third choice – _I’m kind of madly in love with you_.

 

Not one of them happened when he had picked Midorima up in the morning. Not a single word of the incident had been exchanged and rather, it seemed like Midorima had done his best not to even bring the subject up. Confused, Takao had simply gotten along with it.

 

However, he knew that Midorima was thinking about it. He had to be. All the chats they had exchanged so far had been dry and lacked of interest, and it made Takao’s chest ache. Even now, as they sat in the crowded cafeteria for the first time in ages, Midorima only concentrated on eating his lunch. So did Takao, since all his efforts of conversation were brushed off. A dark cloud hung over his head, and he wished Midorima would say something, even if it would be blaming him. Silence was the worst.

 

“…so, tell me again why we’re eating lunch with you guys,” Miyaji said.

 

Out of pure panic of having to endure an hour of silence yet again, Takao had gone and invited all the upperclassmen to eat lunch. It felt totally different than eating together with only Midorima in some quiet place. He smirked, bit his sandwich, and said with his mouth full, “Team spirit, of course!”

 

Midorima tsked next to him. Takao was surprised that he had even agreed to sit next to him, when everything else – like decent conversations that human beings had – seemed to be too much to handle.

 

“Team spirit, my ass,” muttered Miyaji.

 

“Aahh, so mean, senpai, so mean!” Takao shrieked and laughed.

 

“Oh come on, it’s not that bad,” Otsubo said instead. “Good thinking, Takao.”

 

“Thank you!”

 

With a bigger grin on his lips he glanced at Midorima who really didn’t look amused. He hadn’t protested about the sudden change of their lunch company, not out loud at least, so he really had no reason to pout like that. Takao nudged Midorima’s shoulder, and the other suddenly flinched. He blinked and stared at his friend, and all the joking comments dried in his throat. Was Midorima suddenly scared that he would jump on him every time possible? Takao hid his smile behind his palm.

 

“Hey, I’ve got a question,” he declared, when his mind had set its course for teasing again. “What would you do if someone suddenly kissed you with no explanation?”

 

Midorima nearly choked on his sweet tea. His hard coughs gathered everyone’s attention from the table, and guaranteed, everyone was staring at him. Takao smirked sheepishly and ignored the glare that Midorima gave him behind his glasses. Midorima’s cheeks turned red, although Takao wasn’t sure whether it was from the memory of the kiss, embarrassment or simply from the coughing.

 

“What kind of question is that?!” Miyaji asked.

 

“Just a rhetorical one!”

 

“I bet you did that to someone.”

 

Takao laughed. “Me? No way, I’m a real gentleman! But seriously, what would you do?”

 

“Mm… Depends if she’s cute or not.”

 

“What kind of an answer is that?!” His chest bubbled from the laughter deep within. It felt good, since the knot in his stomach loosened up every time he laughed, although it didn’t disappear completely. It always resurfaced when he happened to glance at Midorima. Takao forced his gaze to move back to Miyaji and continued, “So if she’s not cute, eeh, you’d probably just throw a pineapple at her or what?”

 

“Shut up!”

 

Their laughs blended to the other sounds in the cafeteria. By now, Midorima was the only one who wasn’t even seemingly entertained. Seeing him like that made Takao’s stomach clench and do the weirdest somersaults that were untamable. He couldn’t name the feeling he had, but it made him uneasy. He wanted to shake Midorima and tell him to stop sulking and pouting, but he guessed he wasn’t really helping by bringing such subjects up.

 

“What about you, Takao?” Otsubo asked.

 

“Huh, me? Hmm, let’s see… I wouldn’t mind, I think, kissing is nice, isn’t it, no matter who you do it with.” Wanting to throw fuel to the fire even more, Takao squeezed Midorima’s shoulder. “Or what do you think, Shin-chan?”

 

Midorima’s cheeks still glowed. He placed the can down on the table and slapped Takao’s hand away, and adjusted his glasses. “This is a ridiculous topic of conversation.”

 

“Don’t be so serious, Shin-chan, it’s just a rhetorical question!”

 

There it was again, that weird expression on Midorima’s face that made Takao feel like he was the worst criminal of the entire world. His throat tightened, and his smile turned into a deep frown. Why was Midorima looking like that? He couldn’t stand it. He curled his fingers to loose fists and felt how his palms got sweaty. He heard his pulse right next to his ear and swallowed.

 

“I’m going ahead,” Midorima finally said.

 

The chair screeched, and although in the corner of Takao’s vision stood the tall figure, he didn’t glance at his friend’s way. He rubbed his nape and felt at loss. A sigh escaped him. This was getting way too serious. What kind of a joke was he supposed to pull to stop Midorima from sulking and start giving those little smiles again?

 

“What the hell’s wrong with him?” Miyaji asked, when Midorima was no longer in sight or hearing range.

 

Takao shrugged, but pulled a wide smile on his lips. Although it felt natural, since it was the way his mouth always settled, the uneasy feeling lingered deep in his chest. “I think it’s because Cancer placed really low today.”

 

“Geez, he and his astrology shit…”

 

Takao hummed and took another bite of the sandwich. It didn’t taste like anything anymore. All he was able to do was to watch the door where Midorima had marched through, and wondered what Midorima was really going to do all by himself. They were always together, through every break and free period, lunch and classes, so was he _really_ going to be alright now? He resisted the urge to push himself up on his feet, and instead participated in the meaningless chit-chat with Miyaji and Otsubo. However, his head kept pounding and screaming _Shin-chan is mad at you, Shin-chan is mad at you_ so hard that it gave him a headache.

 

When he thought about it, he realized that he didn’t really regret the kiss. It had been a good kiss, although a stolen one. Midorima’s attitude just annoyed him. They were friends, so Midorima could have just talked to him about it instead of ignoring him. What would he have to do to get Midorima actually make some kind of remark about it? Slowly a smile pulled on his lips.

 

The bell rang. He finished his drink and got himself up on his feet, called out, “See you in practice!” and ran to the direction where Midorima had so hastily left. Despite the smile that was splattered across his face, his heart made weird thumps, and his steps felt heavier than ever.

 

* * *

 

The squeaking of the shoes and the swishing of the net that echoed around the gym soothed Takao’s bad mood, which had increased drastically during the day. For the whole day Midorima hadn’t said a single thing about the kiss, not a single word or syllable, and it pissed Takao off. He vented his frustration by running around the gym with several others, and every now and then glanced towards the center where Midorima was shooting. He sighed. Like always, the shooting form was so beautiful… He bit the inside of his cheek and picked up his pace, although his lungs already complained. He wanted his mind to shut up about Midorima even for a single second.

 

Full with his thoughts, he passed under a basket and nearly had a heart attack when a ball missed him only barely. He huffed and stopped, yet startled when he saw Midorima frozen in the shooting position. Swallowing, he brushed the back of his palm against his forehead and yelled, “Oi, Shin-chan, I’m not the goal!”

 

No answer.

 

Slowly Midorima’s long arms pulled by the side of his body again. Takao watched the sight with a beating heart, and when it became clear that no apology would be given, he continued running. His steps were getting heavier again. It was weird, though, for Midorima to be that off-mark… Takao groaned. He really wished he would have been Midorima’s goal! Mid-run, he ruffled his hair and wanted to collapse on the floor. He never thought this was going to be so hard! His fingers itched to play already, his whole body was in the mood for it, and he couldn’t have been happier when the whistle was blown.

 

He turned to the center with others. Red vests were handed out, and as usual, Midorima got one. When Otsubo got in front of him, Takao reached his hand forward but didn’t get anything. Was he for real now? In practice games between them, he was always in the same team as Midorima, always wearing that sweat-stinking vest that was only a bother. He glanced at Midorima whose gaze was nailed near the ceiling and who pulled the vest effortlessly on him. Takao gritted his teeth, but grinned when he saw his temporary teammates. If Midorima wasn’t going to look at him now, he was surely going to have to look at him when they would get head-to-head on court!

 

Joyful about the discovery, he skipped happily to the other end of the court. There was no way he was going to go for the start with everyone so much taller than him, plus it also gave him a nice overview of the whole court. It did feel weird to see Midorima in the red when he wore none himself, but he supposed it was fine for now. The whistle started the game, and the shoes squeaked against the floor. Takao jogged a bit closer and hunched a bit lower, his fingers craving to feel the somewhat rough surface of the ball.

 

Before the ball even rolled to his side of the court, though, he saw Midorima readying his shoot at the other end. Takao stood still and simply watched how the legs so effortlessly helped the other jump, how the arms straightened and how the ball flew on the air. It seemed to continue forever, in a slow yet high arc. He watched its movements keenly, and when it went through the net with ease and bounced on the floor, he smiled. He loved Midorima. He really did.

 

In counter-attack, the ball was passed to him. He took a calm inhale, bounced the ball by his side and walked forward while others ran. Pass to the right… No, Otsubo was there. To the left, then…? He licked his lips and felt a grin on his lips when the first one came to mark him. It would be easy to dribble to the right and pass to Miyaji when Otsubo would come closer, but Midorima had settled nicely on the left side. Making a bad call as a player but a pretty damn good one in his personal opinion, he faked and headed towards Midorima. He would have to look at him, now the green eyes would be nailed to him. That’s all he wanted.

 

Takao knew from the beginning that going one-on-one with Midorima would always, now and forever, lead to his lost. He was feeling lucky – if he remembered right, Scorpio _was_ few places ahead of Cancer today –, but the attempt to dribble past the other led to a steal. He groaned and pouted as he headed back. Midorima knew his movements too well, and was too in synch with him! He passed the ball forward with ease, but his head really wasn’t in the game. Midorima hadn’t even glanced at him when they were head to head. Not even a single glance…

 

He made bad calls for the rest of the game, too. By the end of it he leaned against his knees to catch his breath, and felt a bit better when he got a slap on the back from Otsubo. He rubbed his temples and straightened his back, held his hands on his hips and examined Midorima. The other brushed his bangs away from his forehead and cleaned his glasses. Briefly their eyes met, and Takao’s heart was ready to explode. _Look at me more_ , his mind begged. The gaze lingered, but too quickly Midorima turned his back at him. Takao sighed and wanted to completely give up.

 

“Listen up,” Otsubo said. The chatter around the gym quickly quieted down. “The coach wanted me to tell you that the schedules for the next matches are up. Our first opponent is Kirisaki Daichi.”

 

The news was met by groans and grumbles. It was easy to agree on them – they were quite possible the one team that no one really wanted to meet at the first game. Takao ruffled his hair. _How troublesome_.

 

“So, as we all know the circumstances, just be careful in the game and avoid injuries. That’s all.”

 

When everyone started to loiter around and head towards the locker room, Takao wasn’t sure what to do exactly. Midorima looked like he was going to stay behind, but was he invited, too? Probably not. Another sigh escaped his lips, and he skipped to the bench to grab his towel.

 

“Hey, Takao, stay behind a bit.”

 

“Huh?” He spun around and met up with Otsubo. From the corner of his eye he already noticed Midorima roll the cart of balls to the right place. Sluggishly he looked back at the captain. “What is it?”

 

“Whatever there’s going on with you and Midorima, just deal with it quickly, alright?”

 

“ _Huh_?!” A deep frown found its place on Takao’s face. How the hell did Otsubo know? “There’s nothing going on—“

 

“Please. You haven’t made a single joke or tried to tease him now in the practice, and it already felt odd during lunch, so it’s obvious there’s something going on. I don’t want it to affect tomorrow’s game, so please just do something.”

 

Takao gritted his teeth. “…got it.”

 

Otsubo gave him a reassuring squeeze on the shoulder accompanied with a smile and retreated towards the locker rooms along with everyone else. Now it was just him and Midorima in the gym, and the tiny sounds of Midorima’s shoes filled the whole space. The net rustled, and Takao stared at the sight with nausea pooling inside him. So it was this obvious, huh? He sighed and knew that Otsubo was right – personal things like these shouldn’t come in the game’s way. He watched Midorima’s back and hesitated, but took the steps separating them.

 

“Shin-chan, wanna do some passing exercise?” Good, he sounded happy and care-free. When he pulled a smile on his lips as well, the setting was perfect.

 

Midorima barely glanced towards his direction. Instead of throwing the ball to the basket as he had first intended according to his position, he threw it to Takao. “Sure.”

 

“Awesome.”

 

Takao hopped few steps back and settled himself in a proper stance, which broke down just a bit when Midorima faced him. Finally they looked at each other properly. A lump rose to Takao’s throat when he examined the brows that had drew in to a frown and the slight pout on the lips that he had kissed so suddenly. He moistened his lips and let out a shivery breath, gripped the ball tighter, but his body had frozen. He had never felt like this, not this crushing kind of feeling. Midorima was sad, or was it disappointment after all?

 

“Are you going to throw it?”

 

“Yes, yes, don’t be so impatient!”

 

With no other choice, he threw the ball. It was a lousy throw that barely reached Midorima, but at least it was out of his hands. The smile trembled on his lips, but he didn’t have any time to collect his thoughts when the ball was back in his grasp. _Shit._ He should have just went with the usual and watch Midorima do the work instead of trying to actually participate in the after-practice practice.

 

In silence they passed the ball back and forth, and after a moment Takao realized how ridiculous it felt. Constantly he thought of all the ways he could approach Midorima instead of rudely asking straight away about the kiss. He came up with nothing useful, and once the ball was back to him, he bounced it for few times.

 

“Shin-chan,” he said.

 

“Yes?”

 

“Mind if I come to your place after this?”

 

“Sure.”

 

 _Sure?!_ What kind of an answer was that? So for the whole day Midorima had been silent and almost sulking, and now he was completely okay with that suggestion? Takao chuckled yet wanted to bang his head against the nearest wall. One last time he passed the ball back to Midorima.

 

“I’m gonna grab my stuff from the locker room in that case, okay? Want me to bring yours as well, so we can just leave when you’re done?”

 

“That’s okay.”

 

Without a single word more, Midorima turned towards the nearest basket and began his shooting practice. Takao felt like pulling his hair until he’d have a tuft of them in his hands, but resisted the urge. It felt weird to be annoyed of such little gestures, since he was rarely even annoyed altogether. He took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down. It was not a big deal. This was how Midorima was, stoic and not open about his feelings. He would just have to confront Midorima at his place, maybe while playing some games. That was definitely the best way to approach it. Confirmed that he should stay optimistic about the whole thing, Takao strolled towards the locker room and heard the swishing of the net behind his back.


	4. Chapter 4

“I’m home.”

 

“Sorry for intruding!” Takao shouted behind Midorima and kicked his shoes off.

 

Only silence answered both of them. Takao frowned and traced behind Midorima’s steps that went from one room to another in the downstairs. He pressed his hip against the doorframe and examined his friend reading a little note by the kitchen table. Immediately a puzzled look rose to Midorima’s face, and he adjusted his glasses.

 

“Aren’t they home?”

 

“They went shopping.” Midorima’s voice broke. He rumbled the note and threw it in the garbage, and suddenly hustled around the kitchen. He put the teapot on the stove with such force that the lid nearly fell of, and kept his back turned at Takao in the search of tea leaves. Looking closely enough, anyone could have noticed the trembling of both Midorima’s fingers and shoulders.

 

Takao drew a breath and pressed his temple against the frame as well. Suddenly he knew what was going on – Midorima was nervous. Maybe he had only agreed of him coming over since he had thought his family would be there. Was he worried that he would kiss him again? Midorima looked way too stiff and way too nervous. It was like Midorima didn’t know him at all anymore, as if he had become this stranger who jumped on him and kissed him at every chance he got. Takao sighed and already regretted the fact that he had butted in here.

 

“Shit,” Midorima muttered under his breath when his hand trembled so much that he could barely pour the leaves into the pot.

 

“Hey, Shin-chan… Should I just go?”

 

Their eyes met for a brief moment, and Takao’s heart skipped a beat. _Please don’t say no now_ , he pleaded. He couldn’t have handled that.

 

“Don’t be ridiculous.” Midorima snorted. “I’ve got the second part of that game you love, we should play it.”

 

 _So now_ I’m _the one being ridiculous?_ thought Takao, but didn’t say it aloud. Instead, he smiled to the little comment and agreed to stay after all. Maybe Midorima was indeed nervous, but at least he wanted him to stay, even when the tea making was troublesome.

 

“I’m gonna go get the game ready,” he said.

 

He hurried upstairs to Midorima’s room which looked exactly the same as always. The stuffed toys that had been previous lucky items were in a neat order on top of the book shelf, and Takao watched them with a lopsided smile. The toys were really cute, and he remembered all of them and how he had laughed in the mornings when he had seen Midorima carry them. He picked up a sheep with a sky-blue fur and watched it closely, hugged it against his chest and then realized just what the hell he was doing. Awkwardly he placed it back and cleared his throat, paced around the room and didn’t make an eye contact with the toys anymore.

 

Once the game and both the controllers were ready, Takao slumped down on the bed. It was easily big enough for two… He had never actually slept in it as he had always stayed the night on the floor on a futon. He rolled to his side and watched the small TV screen. The pillow smelled just like Midorima, and he sniffed it a bit more. He thought of sleeping right on that spot, spooning with Midorima, and the rest of his annoyance simply dissolved. Yeah, he was really in love, foolishly so. He had been in love before, too, but never in this way that made his heart jump out of his ribcage and him do stupid things.

 

He pushed himself up when he heard the clinking of the cups just behind the door. Midorima gave him a long glance when he noticed him sitting in the bed but said nothing, just handed over the cup. Takao took the first sip and cringed straight afterwards. It was way too bitter. He concealed his laughter behind his palm and tried not to cough too much.

 

“Okay, let’s do this!” Takao grabbed himself a controller. “Time to beat your ass in this game again, Shin-chan!”

 

Midorima sighed. “It’s really designed poorly.”

 

“And yet you still play it with me. Don’t be such a party pooper because you never win in this.”

 

“ _Never_ is too harshly said.”

 

“I’ve _never_ seen you win, though.”

 

He grinned widely and pressed start. His concentration wavered, though, when he watched Midorima’s slender fingers drape over the buttons of the controller. The fingers looked really long and extremely beautiful. His heart raced, and quickly he turned his gaze back at the TV. The little men on the screen jumped and raced against each other, and although it was his favorite game indeed, Takao’s gaze kept slipping towards Midorima. He seemed to have finally relaxed, and he had pressed his back against the wall, his fingers working fast and his teeth gritting every now and then.

 

Takao inhaled sharply and watched his character fall to a gorge. _Shit_. He pulled his legs against his chest and pressed the soles against the mattress and decided to concentrate on the game. It was the only game in which he had a better winning strike than Midorima, so he couldn’t lose it now. No matter how hard he pressed the buttons, and no matter how close to the edge of the gorge he stood, he always fell. Frustration built itself up to the pit of his stomach, and it wasn’t only directed towards the game. Midorima sat in silence, his chin slightly up, and looking so goddamn beautiful that Takao couldn’t handle it.

 

The next time he died, he threw the controller on the floor like a small child in the midst of his tantrum. He pressed his forehead against his forearm and laughed. The laughter made his chest ache rather than feel good.

 

“Takao,” Midorima sighed, “what’s wrong with you? It’s just a game—“

 

“What’s wrong with _me_?” Takao huffed and glanced up. _Here we go_. “What’s wrong with _you_? Why don’t you say anything about it?”

 

“About what?”

 

“The kiss!”

 

Midorima flustered. A blush crept from his neck to his cheeks and his ears, and he glanced away immediately. He cleared his throat, and his fingers twitched. Suddenly he got up.

 

“I’ll go get us something to eat,” he murmured.

 

It was the end of Takao’s patience. He grabbed Midorima’s wrist and pulled him down, heard the other yelp but didn’t care as he – with the power of surprise nonetheless – pushed Midorima down on the bed. With ease he crawled on top of him and straddled him, and held both of his wrists above his head as tight as he could. Fire blazed in his eyes, and he breathed heavily, ignored the squirms Midorima made.

 

“W-What are you doing?” stammered Midorima. “Let me go.”

 

“Not until you talk about it.” Takao curled his fingers tight around the wrists. He had never realized how thin they actually were, and how well they fitted in his grasp. Pressing them harder against the mattress, he sat on Midorima’s waist with his full weight.

 

“Takao!” Midorima snarled. “This isn’t funny, let me go.”

 

“You’re right, this isn’t funny at all. This isn’t a joke anymore.” He felt his expression turn into a cringe. His heart sped up, and his stomach twisted and turned, and he simply wanted to collapse on top of Midorima. It didn’t help at all having to watch Midorima’s angered expression, which was enough to throw him completely off balance. Takao gritted his teeth. “Was it so bad that you don’t even want to mention it?”

 

“Takao!”

 

Takao leaned closer and licked Midorima’s bottom lip with the very tip of his tongue. The struggles got desperate underneath him, and it became a real job to hold the much taller and stronger Midorima beneath him. He asked, “Or did you actually like it so much in the end?”

 

When only huffs and grunts came out of Midorima’s mouth, Takao sealed his lips with his own. It still felt good, even better than his first attempt, and he kissed Midorima deeper. He hadn’t planned it to go this far, but since he had already crossed the line, he couldn’t do a turn around and retreat. He worked his hips better against Midorima’s and hummed into the kiss. His lips tingled, and he wanted more, _more, more_ , and so he continued despite the struggles. Maybe there was a real distress behind the movements, but since Midorima’s body grinded against his so nicely, it excited Takao and made his muscles clench.

 

He pulled back to catch his breath and plunged straight back into it. He knew that as a kisser he was OK, good even, since he had gotten some practice in it, and he moved his lips effortlessly over Midorima’s. Suddenly, as Midorima grunted, his lips parted, and it felt like he was being kissed back. Takao trembled, and his eyes widened. Was Midorima really kissing him back? Was he _really_? His body shuddered from head to toe, and he could barely contain his excitement. That had been a kiss, that had been a genuine kiss from Midorima to him! He readied his attack, and when Midorima accidentally parted his lips again, Takao trailed the tip of his tongue inside the hot mouth.

 

The body underneath him went rigid. His nose squeezed against Midorima’s, and shudders pierced his spine. Now he could definitely die happy. His tongue traced over Midorima’s, which was clearly all over the place, and the French kiss ended up soppy and mostly as an exchange of saliva. Takao’s mind spun, and he couldn’t think about anything other than the body beneath him. He grinded his hips against Midorima and felt his balls ache. He huffed and grinned against the lips, and pressed his forehead so tight against the other’s that it hurt already.

 

Eventually Midorima managed to struggle enough to turn his cheek at Takao. Laughter throbbed in Takao’s chest, and he nuzzled Midorima’s cheek with the tip of his nose. If he had kissed him back, how far would he be willing to go…?

 

“Let me go,” Midorima said.

 

A part of Takao’s heart shattered just a tiny bit. However, he smirked and dug his fingers to Midorima’s wrists. Midorima cringed and gritted his teeth together, but Takao didn’t see the look in his eyes because of the slight reflection on his glasses.

 

“You really liked it, didn’t you, Shin-chan?”

 

“This is a tasteless joke.”

 

“But you liked it!” He tilted his head and licked his lips. He could definitely taste Midorima on them. “Your lips are a little swollen, Shin-chan… And you gotta such a nice blush on your cheeks. You really liked it.”

 

“Nonsense!”

 

It hurt more than Takao had thought. _Nonsense, huh?_ He supposed he had no other choice when Midorima struggled more and nearly got himself free, and so he pushed the wrists better against the mattress and kissed him again. This time the lack of response was obvious, and Midorima only hummed against his lips and tried to turn his face away. Persistently Takao followed, but ended up wincing when teeth sank to his bottom lip. He panted and straightened his posture again, and slowly the pain spread on his lip. It ached, and as he trailed his tongue over the spot where Midorima had bit him, he could feel it getting swollen. He tsked.

 

“You bit me,” he stated the obvious.

 

“I’ll do it again if you don’t stop this in this instant!”

 

“Could it be that Shin-chan likes it rougher?”

 

Takao straddled Midorima properly again and pressed his knee hard against the other’s crotch. A whimper escaped from Midorima, and he kneaded rougher. The blush spread on the whole of Midorima’s face. The bulge underneath his knee felt too good to be true. Takao breaths turned high-pitched, and he glanced down before concentrating his gaze on the flustered face. Sheepish smile rose to his lips.

 

“Do you like this?” he asked.

 

Midorima muttered something under his breath so quietly that Takao couldn’t understand it.

 

“Or should I do it harder, Shin-chan?” He pressed his knee higher and rubbed the bulge, hoped for it to grow hard, but it was no use. He pressed his fingertips against Midorima’s wrists and didn’t hold back at all, even if his short nails would dig straight into the delicate skin.

 

He leaned closer and felt Midorima’s warm breath against his face. The scent of the green tea was there, surprisingly strong, and it smelled heavenly. Takao breathed it in and stole a quick peck from the moist lips.

 

“You know, Shin-chan…” On his turn, he bit Midorima’s bottom lip and shuddered, when the lovely moans filled the room. He trailed his lips against the other’s ear and whispered, “If you’re not going to seriously resist me, I’m going to rape you right here on your own—“

 

He never finished his sentence, when a knee hit his stomach. All the air escaped from his lungs leaving nothing behind, and he coughed, gagged. For a split second his concentration slackened, and in that single second his whole world collapsed. Midorima pushed him away, and his back hit the wall hard enough for his spine to ache. His collar was grabbed, and he managed to take a single glimpse of Midorima’s angered expression before the tape-filled fist met with his cheek. Takao drew a sharp inhale, and the pain exploded immediately. He cried out and covered the spot with his palm as tears swell to his eyes.

 

Not a single joint of his body moved. He looked at Midorima, although his vision had grown hazy, and saw him tremble and swing his legs over the bed. Midorima didn’t leave the bed, though, simply sat on the edge of it and buried his face to his palms. Takao swallowed and reached his hand forward, but found no courage to touch Midorima’s shoulder even with his fingertips. It was difficult not to notice the clearly hardened bulge on the other’s crotch, but even that looked unwelcoming to Takao right now.

 

He had fucked up. He _was_ fucked up.

 

“S-Shin…” His voice broke. “Shin-chan…”

 

“Get out,” Midorima said softly, “get out of the room, get out of the house, get out of my sight, and do it now.”

 

Takao could have handled yelling and screaming, and Midorima getting angry, but him telling him to do that with such a serene voice sent daggers straight to his heart. He frowned and pressed his hand tighter against his cheek, felt the pain even more and thought that he really deserved it. Midorima didn’t repeat his words, simply sat there and trembled. Takao pressed the sore spot with his fingertips as long as tears made his vision completely blurry, and only then, without a single word, got up on his feet.

 

He didn’t glance at Midorima, didn’t say anything to him, and slowly walked to the door. The only thing he heard was a lonely sniff, and then the door already clicked softly close behind his back.

 

In a haze he walked down the stairs. He felt weird, kind of dizzy, and he stopped in the middle, leaned against the wall. He thought of the way Midorima had squirmed and told him to stop, thought of the kiss and how it had tasted, and how the shape of the crotch had felt against his knee. His stomach twisted. He rubbed his eyes and cursed under his breath. He had done so many stupid things in his life, but this was by far the worst. He kept rubbing his eyes until they ached and took the steps down one at a time.

 

“Takao?”

 

He startled when Midorima’s mother’s head peeked from the kitchen. Takao hurried to the hallway and with trembling fingers pulled his shoes on. Soft steps echoed behind him.

 

“Are you already leaving?” she asked. “Would you like to stay for dinner, I—“

 

“I have to go,” he interrupted. Once his shoes were somewhat on his feet, he straightened his back and smiled weakly to her. It was really difficult to hold back the tears. “Mom is waiting me at home, I’ll stay for dinner another time…”

 

He didn’t hear her answer as he rushed out of the front door. The weather had turned cold, and the wind prickled his skin. He sniffed, and shook from a laughter caused by pure misery. Now he had done it, now he had really done it! Midorima was never going to look at him properly again, he was never going to speak properly to him again, and they would never hold decent conversations with each other again.

 

Thinking that it was surely the death of him, Takao ran and didn’t stop until his lungs ached harder than his heart.


	5. Chapter 5

Takao knocked on the door of Midorimas and took a deep breath. He had ran all the way from home to here, and had really struck out in the morning haze with his bright orange uniform. Midorima hadn’t called him, or sent a single mail, or answered his calls or mails, and Takao was really fine with him being mad, but not on a game day. They always went to the matches together, he always picked Midorima up, and they took the train, the bus, or the rickshaw together. Matches were supposed to go over personal issues, right?

 

He knocked again. If Midorima wasn’t going to come down soon, they would be late, and the coach wouldn’t be happy. He knocked for the third time. He swore that if Midorima was in there taping his fingers in all peace while he looked like shit with dark bags under his eyes and a huge red mark on his cheek, then _he_ would get mad.

 

About to knock yet again, the door swung open. He was already beginning his lecture, when instead of Midorima himself, his mother stood there with a frown on her face.

 

“Ah, Takao? What are you doing here?” She wiped her hands on her apron. “Aren’t you supposed to be at the stadium already?”

 

“Um… I’m here to pick Shin-chan.”

 

“Shintaro? He left a while ago, I thought you were with him! He said something about you meeting with him there…”

 

Takao’s heart skipped a beat. _No way_. Midorima had never done this, not even when he had been slightly annoyed or mad at him over stupid jokes he had made the previous day. Takao tightened his grasp from the strap of his bag and felt his throat tighten. Of course he had known for sure that Midorima would be angrier than ever, but to abandon him on a game day…? He rubbed his nape and tried to swallow down the lump on his throat. He glanced up from his toes to Midorima’s mother and barely managed to smile at her, even laughed a bit.

 

“That’s right, of course, stupid me! Shin-chan told about that yesterday, sorry to bother… I completely forgot.”

 

“Don’t worry about it.” She smiled gently. “Good luck on the match, do your best!”

 

“Mm…”

 

When Takao turned his back and the door closed, his heart dropped to his stomach. He stood still on the little path and stared down at his palms. It really was how he feared; Midorima wanted nothing to do with him anymore. He groaned and ruffled his hair, gave himself a nudge on the forehead. He had promised himself not to think about it, not today, not when there was a match to win. Still somehow Midorima kept sneaking on his mind, if not every second, but at least every other.

 

He didn’t have time for this, though. He was going to be late, and then he would have a whole team mad at him. One was already enough – he didn’t want the rage of so many others on top of it.

 

He ran, and by the skin of his teeth managed to catch the right bus. It didn’t feel right without Midorima. Pre-game, he always vented his excitement and nervousness out by babbling and laughing loud, and it had always managed to make him relax. Now there was no one to talk to, no one to laugh with… No, it couldn’t have been anyone, it had to be Midorima. Takao’s feet trembled, and he watched the scenery pass by in slow speed. In his mind he counted the minutes and seconds and prayed to get there in time. Midorima could have at least texted him to say that he was no longer welcome to pick him up… The corner of his lips turned downwards, and he sighed. If only he hadn’t done that to Midorima. If only he had acted like a decent human being rather than a horny douche, this wouldn’t have happened.

 

Worry snarled in his mind, and it surely wasn’t concentrated towards the match.

 

By the time he reached the stadium, it was overflowing with people strolling inside with insanely slow pace. In the midst of his run he jumped every now and then to capture even a glimpse of orange jerseys, but there were none. _Shit!_ He was late, so, so late, and he had all the rights to blame Midorima about it. He zigzagged through the crowd. It was insanely noisy, chatters echoed everywhere as well as giggles and laughter, and it made him sick in the stomach. Everyone seemed so happy, while he was really suffering. The asphalt under his shoes felt mushy, and he breathed heavily.

 

Five minutes later he finally barked into the correct locker room. He felt dizzy, and all he could see was orange, orange, and a bit more orange. Someone squeezed his shoulder, and even with his hazy vision he could sure as hell say it wasn’t Midorima. His lungs ached, and the pain crept to his throat as he straightened his back and rubbed his eyes. It had been forever since he was this exhausted from simple running.

 

“You’re late,” said the coach.

 

“I… overslept,” Takao said.

 

“Get quickly ready, we’re leaving to the court in few minutes.”

 

He skipped to the other side of the rather small room and ended up taking the locker right next to Midorima, as usual. Unbuttoning his jacket, he examined Midorima who sat on the bench and rolled the tapes away from his fingers. The fingers looked slender and graceful as always, and Takao caught himself staring at them for a long time. He forced himself out of his thoughts and jumped out of his pants and into the shorts. His skin prickled now that he was this close to Midorima again. He’d have to say something, right? He pulled the jersey on and traced his fingers over the number on his chest. Midorima could have the decency to say something, too.

 

Eventually he swallowed down his pride and said, “Hey, Shin-chan? Why didn’t you text me this morning to say that we’re not going together to—“

 

“Don’t come near me today,” Midorima interrupted.

 

Takao’s heart sank to his stomach. He frowned to the locker in front of him and couldn’t muster the courage to actually look at the other. “Why?”

 

For a moment, Midorima said nothing. The shouts of their other teammates filled the room quickly, but Takao felt like he was underwater; everything sounded blurred. He felt his pulse all over his skin, and he went to goose bumps.

 

“Cancers and Scorpios have the worst compatibility today,” finally came the answer. Midorima’s voice sounded monotonous, almost cold. “I don’t want to risk the match, so stay as far away from me as you can. Today I don’t want to defy destiny.”

 

Takao clutched the shirt from his chest. He smiled faintly to the metal in front of him, said, “Got it,” but didn’t even mean it. There had been times when their star signs had been in the same position, but not even once had Midorima been this drastic. Usually he simply did everything in possible, even brought Takao his lucky item, but this was ridiculous. Takao’s chest clenched, and he pressed his forehead against the cold surface of the locker. He was feeling awful – how on Earth was he supposed to concentrate on the game like this? It would have been fine if the match was between them and some mediocre team, but when it was with Kirisaki Daichi – Kirisaki _fucking_ Daichi –, there was no room for anything else in the mind.

 

“We’re heading to the court now!”

 

He was ready to vomit. He was seriously ready to vomit when Midorima hurried to be the first one to get out of the room. Takao felt disgusting, useless, and completely defeated. Not sure whether it was ever going to be okay, he stared at the locker for a long time and grabbed his bag along, and joined with the rest of the team as the very last person who exited.

 

The level of noise in the court was unbelievable. Takao tightened his grip from the strap of his bag and looked around, but even the sight of full stands didn’t nip in the bottom of his stomach like it usually did. He watched Midorima’s green hair in the very front of their neat line and frowned. Usually he was right there behind him, able to see the beautiful curve of his nape and the lean hips, and most of the time he gave Midorima a squeeze on the shoulders as some extra good luck, but now he was too far.

 

The bench at the side of the court had never felt this uncomfortable. The last minute strategy was exchanged, but he wasn’t listening. Instead, he watched the other bench and examined the players in their teal-colored uniforms. Here and there he heard Hanamiya’s voice, and it was perhaps the only voice he had ever heard that sent shivers down his spine. Even now he shuddered when his eyes locked to Hanamiya’s, and the other flashed him a wicked grin. Takao really had a bad feeling about this, and it didn’t soothe him at all to know that Hanamiya was a fellow point guard. _Absolutely amazing_ , he thought and buried his face to his palms.

 

He startled out of his thoughts when everyone around him got up. Midorima didn’t even glance towards him as he headed towards the court with confident steps. Takao watched his movements, and even now thought that he had never seen anyone with such grace. He tried to push himself up, but his knees trembled, and he fell back on the bench. Gritting his teeth, he gripped his knee and tried to calm himself down. _Think of the match_ , he ordered himself, _just think of the match, you can talk to him afterwards and settle this._

 

“Who is it today?” came a voice from the Kirisaki Daichi’s bench.

 

Takao frowned and glanced towards the other team again. They were still gathered together.

 

“Hmm…” Hanamiya licked his lips and grinned, and with zero hesitance said, “Mr. Ace.”

 

_Shin-chan?_ Takao’s pulse sped up again. Were they really going to target Midorima? Blood and adrenaline flooded through his veins, and he glanced at Midorima. He couldn’t let that happen. He got himself back on his feet, this time actually successful in it, but when his eyes met with Hanamiya’s impish glare, he froze. They were really going to hurt Midorima. Give him injuries. What if today was the day when they would go too far? Takao stared at the court below his shoes and felt his stomach twist.

 

“What are you doing, Takao?” the coach asked.

 

“Could I start in the bench? Just for few minutes, I need to check something.”

 

“Mm… I suppose that’s fine.”

 

Takao sat back on the bench and watched the fifth player run on the court with the others. He felt the other starters’ eyes on him but didn’t care. His body trembled, and he didn’t know what was going on. This wasn’t like him. He had slept okay. Well, he had slept, so that was an improvement of the latest nights. He had done everything as usual in match days, but his legs still shook. He rubbed his temples and closed his eyes, took few deep breaths. The whistle was blown, and the shoes squeaked against the court. He concentrated on nothing but that noise which he loved so much, and soon the net made its sound, too. Without even glancing up, he knew it had been Midorima making the basket. Only Midorima could make it sound like that.

 

“Damn,” he muttered under his breath and rummaged through his bag. He had to find out whether it was true, and so he grabbed his phone and browsed to Oha Asa’s site as quickly as he could. He licked his dried lips and pressed the buttons, ignored Scorpio’s prediction for today and jumped straight to the compatibility scores. For a silly moment, he forgot to breathe. Then, he found the match for Cancer and Scorpio. He squinted his eyes.

 

_Today, Cancer and Scorpio have the highest compatibility possible!!_

 

Takao reread it, and then reread it again. Eventually a deep sigh escaped from his lips, and he shoved his phone as deep into his bag as possible. He glanced up just in time to catch Midorima’s shooting form that took his breath away. Midorima had lied to him. He couldn’t believe it. His chest felt awfully spacious.

 

“That’s so mean, Shin-chan,” he muttered.

 

“Did you say something?” asked the coach.

 

Takao took a deep breath and got up on his feet. This time, they didn’t tremble. “I’m ready to go.”

 

“Hmm.”

 

Few moments later, echoed a shout of, “Shutoku, member change!”

 

He heard the crowd as noisy as ever. He rolled his shoulders back and cracked his neck, high fived the returning point guard and made his way to the court. It felt vibrant, almost alive, and it gave him a confidence boost. Even Midorima glanced at him, although he quickly averted his gaze and adjusted his glasses. It hurt to look at him, and the sight of Midorima made Takao’s heart weep in an odd way, but there was nothing else to do but to play a good game and take victory home.

 

In a second, all he could hear was his pulse and his deep breaths. Yes, that was good, he couldn’t think of anything other than the ball that got suddenly passed to him. Takao exhaled through his mouth and dribbled past the first player. _One down._ Miyaji was right by his side, Kimura a bit farther back. He stood still and felt the familiar rough surface of the ball underneath his palm. What was Midorima doing so far away under their own basket? Momentarily Takao lost his concentration, and the first attack came. He evaded the hand and dribbled past. _Two down_. When Hanamiya came to him head on, he passed to Miyaji.

 

Takao smiled and took few steps back, ignored Hanamiya’s ugly grin and everything else that was unnecessary. However, as he neared their own basket, Midorima ran forward. He huffed. _Don’t be ridiculous, Shin-chan_ , he wanted to shout. If there was one player thinking of something other than the match, it had to be Midorima. Takao’s lips curled to a pout. He wasn’t going to rape him here on the court, so there was no reason to evade him.

 

His mind turned blank when the counter-attack came. Hara dribbled forward, his eyes uncovered as always, and he chewed bubblegum. Takao stepped forward and lowered himself in a better position, and got his desired one-on-one. This was easy. He smiled. Hara stepped on the right, and he followed, blocked him. The gum became a bubble. _He’s going to fake,_ Takao thought. Miyaji was closing in. There was hesitation in the fake, and Takao saw straight through it, stole the ball and passed it to Midorima. It was a real wonder that Midorima was even taking his passes – who knew, maybe even _that_ would have brought bad luck. Takao grinned at him, but got nothing back. His heart banged in his chest.

 

The first half passed with surprising ease. Takao sat on the bench with the rest of the team and huffed, wrapped a towel around his neck and leaned back. They were in a rather good lead, thanks to Midorima’s many three pointers, but it had been too easy. As Takao caught with his breath as far away from Midorima as possible, he looked towards Kirisaki Daichi. There had been no rough plays yet, no attempts to do anything to Midorima, or even to anyone else. No ribs had been elbowed, no one had stepped on anyone’s toes – it was too clean. An uneasy feeling settled to Takao’s stomach. There was something wrong, because it was _never_ this effortless when it came down to Kirisaki. Hanamiya still had the wide smirk on his lips; there was no way it would have been there if they were actually losing.

 

The interval seemed too short, and too quickly they were back on the court. Takao jumped up and down, rubbed his neck and stretched his calves. Whatever they were planning, it would have to happen soon. He stole a glance towards Midorima, who looked more isolated than usually, and squeezed his eyes shut. Just twenty more minutes to go. Then he could pull Midorima aside and talk with him, if he was allowed to even do that. Most likely not. Takao sighed.

 

The third quarter began, and immediately he got the ball to himself. Hanamiya ran towards him, but before he got too close, Takao passed the ball away already. His hair was glued on his forehead, and he took a sharp inhale as he continued running. Safely the ball landed back to his hands, and through Midorima it went in to the net. He cheered along, and a glimpse of genuine happiness filled him.

 

He got a proper one-on-one with Hanamiya moments later. Midorima was at the three pointers line, Miyaji behind him, Otsubo closing in. He dribbled past Hanamiya, and shivers ran through his spine. _Too easy_. Hara closed in, along with Yamazaki, and it was the latter who pumped hard against his shoulder when he passed the ball to Miyaji. His shoulder ached, but no foul was whistled.

 

“Hey, watch it!” he said. The only thing he got back was a lopsided grin.

 

The ball got stolen from Kirisaki Daichi, and Takao was the first one at it. Again, Hanamiya ran in front of him, and he dribbled past him. Miyaji was right there… No. Where was Miyaji? He had been right there a second ago. Takao took a glance around him within a second, and before he knew it, Miyaji bumped against him. The bump landed on his shoulder again, and he grunted.

 

“What are you doing?” shouted Miyaji. Still in the movement, Takao could only shrug and passed the ball to Midorima.

 

When the third time became when Hanamiya challenged him to one-on-one, Takao noticed a pattern. He dribbled past him just to be sure of it, and with too much easiness he did it. Was it a trick, or a trap? Two of the teal-colored uniforms came towards him with speed, but he cooled his head down. He’d fake, and then pass to Otsubo, who would pass to Midorima, and three points would be guaranteed. He faked, readied the pass, but Otsubo wasn’t where he was supposed to be. His eyes widened, and frantically he searched. Where was everyone?! The ball got stolen, and his body trembled.

 

He couldn’t see anyone. Everyone were at wrong places, and no one was where they were seconds ago. His heart jumped to his throat. He rubbed his forehead to his forearm and told himself to calm down. He was being too careless, too frantic, and thinking too much of Midorima. That was the reason why this was happening. His vision was perfect, it had worked just fine for the first two quarters, and it was going to work just as fine from now on as well. He breathed heavily and ignored all the thoughts of Midorima that gnawed in the back of his mind.

 

The next ball went to Kirisaki Daichi. Takao ran and stopped, and too late did he realize that Hara was backing straight towards him. He reacted too late, and a sharp elbow hit him again on his shoulder. He grunted and swallowed down the shout that wanted to come out, and rubbed the now sore spot. What was it with their newly found obsession of his shoulder? _Assholes_.

 

The ball was passed to Hanamiya, and Takao decided that this was going to be the one he would steal. He settled in front of the other and gave a wide grin back to the one offered to him. Hanamiya stood still, then tried to dribble past, and returned back to his position. His thick brows arched higher.

 

“You really like to dance around, don’t you?” His voice dripped honey. “How is your vision doing?”

 

“Doing just fine!”

 

He closed in and stole the ball. His grin widened but froze in an instant. He swallowed. Where was everybody? What was Midorima doing so far away, why wasn’t Miyaji at the right spot, and where the hell was Otsubo? He forgot to breathe.

 

“Thought so too,” Hanamiya said and stole the ball back again. Takao winced and was too slow to return back to the ideal position. Hanamiya smirked. “Welcome to the trap. How do you think Mr. Ace is going to dance?”

 

Hanamiya passed the ball behind him to Yamazaki, who got head to head with Midorima. Everything disappeared from Takao’s mind for a fleeting moment. _How is Mr. Ace going to dance…_ This was it. This was the moment, this would be the exact moment when they would hurt Midorima. He was so stupid, he should have went properly with the steal even when his vision of the entire court was hazed. He screamed Midorima’s name and ran, saw Hara close in on the scene, his elbows looking sharper than ever. Takao felt like he was running in slow motion – there was no way he could reach it in time.

 

A snap of fingers echoed behind him, and both Hara and Yamazaki got closer Midorima. Takao yelled his name again, and this time Midorima looked at him. He reached his hand forward, and for a moment thought he could make. It was just few little inches between him and the trio, just a bit more. He had to reach it, otherwise Midorima would get hurt. If that would happen, then for sure Midorima would never forgive him. The ball left from Yamazaki’s fingertips and reached towards Midorima, Hara was getting too close. Stretching himself a bit farther, Takao forced his way between Hara and Midorima, pushed to ball out of the way, and flew in an arc to the court’s floor. His shoulder took the hit.

 

The whistle stopped the game. Takao stayed on the floor and grunted, gritted his teeth. His shoulder ached, but it wasn’t an overwhelming pain. He was relieved, however; Midorima was safe. His huffs were heavy as he sat up. Someone stopped in front of him, and he glanced at the shoes – the same as Midorima’s. His heart leapt from joy. He reached his hand up and it was grabbed, but only when he was up on his feet did he realize that it was Hanamiya. His smirk looked even crooked from up close.

 

“Nice save.” Hanamiya’s tone sang. He gripped Takao from both of his shoulders. “I never thought you’d be so naïve, though. Did you really think Mr. Ace was our target?”

 

Takao flinched. The fingers on his shoulders made his core tremble. “What are you saying?”

 

Hanamiya leaned closer, and his lips graced Takao’s ear. He smelled sickly sweet. “I’ve really enjoyed watching you dance around… But this is our trap, and you’re not escaping it.”

 

“What…”

 

Hanamiya licked Takao’s ear and whispered, “Game over, birdie.”

 

The fingers clenched his shoulder harder than before. Takao grunted and squirmed, but the grip didn’t loosen. Something twisted, but no pain followed. Hanamiya pulled back and smirked wickedly, and slowly Takao rubbed his shoulder and the shoulder blade. It did feel a bit weird, but nothing that would stop him from playing. Had it been a failure, after all? He really hoped so, and rolled his shoulder back. Still no pain.

 

Midorima ran to him and made his knees buckle. Once the glasses were pushed in a better position, Midorima demanded, “What did he want?”

 

“Nothing,” Takao muttered between his lips. So _now_ Midorima wanted to talk? He tsked. “Nothing at all.”

 

The ball went to Kirisaki Daichi, but it got almost immediately out of boundaries again by their own players. Takao drew a sharp inhale and ran behind the line, felt the ball in his hands. He spun it to find its perfect position and stopped it between his palms. Just a minute left of the quarter, they could still score some points to pull ahead. He glanced around, saw his teammates searching for a good spot, and suddenly Miyaji was completely free with no mark. Takao grinned.

 

He passed. Before the ball properly left his hands, something cracked in his shoulder. By the time the ball was gone, the pain spread from his shoulder to his spine, and he screamed. It was unbearable, and it radiated everywhere. His shoulder twisted, and his body couldn’t handle it. He fell down on the floor and cried out, held his shoulder with his other hand and pressed his forehead against the flat surface. His shoulder burned. Whenever he tried to move it even an inch, the pain only increased. Tears rose to his eyes, and his screams and yells didn’t quiet down.

 

The running steps sounded louder with his ear against the floor. He groaned and squeezed his eyes shut. He was getting light-headed. Something had to be broken, otherwise the pain wouldn’t be like this.

 

“Takao!”

 

It was Midorima for sure. Takao pressed his cheek against the slippery floor and watched Midorima crouch on the floor right next to him. Through the pain and tears he laughed. Midorima would _never_ do that to anyone. He couldn’t believe he was already starting to hallucinate. Fingertips touched his shoulder, and he cried out.

 

“Someone bring ice!”

 

“Is it badly hurt?”

 

“Ice! Bring the goddamn ice!”

 

Takao couldn’t set the shouts apart anymore. He did hear Midorima’s breath close to himself, and in that moment he wanted to apologize. He wanted to apologize so badly even when he was crying and squirming from agony, but when he parted his lips, not a single word came out. He frowned, and his breaths hitched and quickened. Someone pulled him up on his feet and wrapped their hands around his waist. Once he regained his balance, it was easy to stand up – there was nothing wrong with his legs after all –, but his shoulder burned. Tears rolled to his cheeks, and the only thing he thought was how ridiculously unmanly he looked right in front of his Shin-chan.

 

The whole court spun around him, and the pain took control of him, tingled down his spine and made his knees buckle. One glance towards his shoulder was enough for Takao; he saw a bone sticking out. He cringed and squeezed his eyes shut. He knew exactly what it meant – no basketball in a really, really long time. Slowly he walked forward and from the twirls of his vision saw that people had gathered around their benches. His teammates buzzed around him, but he no longer saw Midorima. He gritted his teeth and hung his head low.

 

Not a single moment did he get any peace on the bench when he finally reached there. Everyone seemed to be touching him, and whenever hands pressed against the shoulder, he hissed and rubbed his eyes to prevent tears from coming out. The ice soothed nothing, but it was a different kind of pain to focus on. Behind the ones standing and crouching right in front of him, he spotted Midorima. He looked straight towards him, and his heart sank to his stomach. Midorima had really shouted his name with such desperation, hadn’t he? It did warm his heart strings a bit, but he wished Midorima was the one right in front of him, squeezing his knee reassuringly.

 

“Just… continue the game,” he muttered under his breath.

 

“Don’t be a fucking fool!” Miyaji shouted. “Look at your shoulder, there’s a bone sticking out and it’s blue.”

 

His jaw clenched. “Please.”

 

For a sweet moment, all the movement around him stopped, all the noises quieted down. For that moment, it was just him, floating in the silence he had wanted, hearing nothing but his own broken breath rasping in the depths of his lungs. Then, the wave of nods came, and slowly, one by one, they retreated back to the court. Takao looked down and smiled faintly to his knees, but the smile changed to a cringe and an attempt not to cry when someone touched the bone through the delicate skin.

 

“What do you say?” the coach asked.

 

Clearly a doctor in his whites was what Takao saw from the corner of his eye. He hissed as the fingers continued their adventure under the bag of ice.

 

“Dislocated. Possibly fractured.”

 

“I’m fine,” Takao said. “It doesn’t even—Ow!”

 

The coach sighed. “Takao…”

 

“I’m fine!” The happy tune of the buzzer announced another basket. “I’ll go to the doctor tomorrow to show it, it’s not a big deal.”

 

Another buzzer sound. He hummed and pushed himself up on his legs, pressed the ice tighter against his shoulder and pulled his bag over the other. Briefly he glanced at the court and could barely make out the faint outlines of Midorima. His heart ached. “Can I go ahead to the locker room? I think I want to lay down…”

 

“Hmm… Alright. Do you need someone along?”

 

“I can handle it.”

 

He flashed a smile, but it was gone as soon as he turned his back to the bench and the court and made his way away from the burning gazes of thousands of eyes into the empty corridor. His steps bounced on the walls, and little by little the noises started to disappear. Now that there was really nothing to distract him, Takao felt the pain twirl all the way to the core of his bones. He leaned against the wall and stayed still for a long time, closed his eyes and clutched the ice harder. He was such a fool to fall for such a trap, but at least Midorima hadn’t been the target. The image of him pushing Midorima down on the bed flashed through his mind, and he pushed himself away from the wall again. _Stop thinking about it_ , he told himself, _stop thinking about it._

 

In the locker room he collapsed on the floor. Thankful of the fact that not a single soul was around him, Takao cried and hugged his legs with his still working arm. He wet his bare knee with his tears and clutched his hair. His fingers entangled to the sweaty strands and yanked them. Even with his shoulder on fire, his heart stole all the attention. He wanted to smile and grin like he always did, and he actually tried that, but his lips didn’t cooperate. He bit the bottom one until the tangy flavor of blood filled his mouth, and pressed his forehead against his knee. He was the worst, _the_ worst.

 

Takao sat still for the longest of times, and really forgot himself there on the floor in the tiny curl he forced his body into. He startled out of his thoughts when the door was swung open, and a breathless Midorima stood by himself in the door frame. Takao frowned and watched the droplets of sweat run down the other’s temples. Had he ran? He startled and rubbed his eyes, but knew that they were going to give him away anyway. His jaw clenched, and he averted his gaze. Midorima swallowed loud enough for him to hear.

 

“We won.”

 

“Great,” Takao muttered.

 

“100 to 97,” Midorima continued. “I made a buzzer beater. Three points.”

 

“Mm…”

 

“Are you crying?”

 

“No.”

 

The steps echoed in the small room. From the corner of his eye Takao saw how Midorima stood right in front of him and offered his hand to him. A lump rose to his throat. He shook his head and pressed his back hard against the locker. He swallowed the moans of pain as he pushed himself up, and ignored Midorima’s hand. He really wanted to hold it, but he knew he couldn’t.

 

“Takao,” the sweet voice called. Midorima touched his arm.

 

Takao slapped the uncovered fingers away. “I’m bringing bad luck to you today, remember?”

 

That’s not what he wanted to say. He wanted to apologize, tell Midorima what an asshole he had been and what he had done would never happen again, but those things simply didn’t come out of his mouth. He trembled and cringed. He felt pathetic in front of the man he loved from the bottom of his aching heart, but even those big three words were too much for him to say. Neither of them said anything. Takao burned underneath Midorima’s gaze, but didn’t glance at him even once.

 

The door opened again, and this time a lot of sweaty guys barged in. Takao swallowed and glanced down at his shoes.

 

“Takao, we won! We won, you should have seen the looks on those bastards’ faces.”

 

“We really avenged you, it was priceless.”

 

Takao smiled weakly and pushed past Midorima to grab his clothes from the locker. He really hated the fact that Midorima kept looking at him but said nothing. He squeezed the jacket against his chest and spun around, and tried not to move his shoulder too much.

 

“Sorry guys… I really gotta go.”

 

Immediately the laughter stopped, and the tones changed.

 

“Hey, are you okay?”

 

“How’s your shoulder doing?”

 

“Are you going to a doctor?”

 

“I’m fine, I’m fine!” Takao said and squeezed another smile to his lips. “I promised the coach to show it to a doctor, so I’ll be a good boy and do exactly that!”

 

Miyaji slapped him to his shoulder, probably not thinking twice about it, and Takao bent from agony. He heard the other gasp, but once he had collected himself, he straightened his back and grinned as brightly as he could. The fact that Miyaji rolled his eyes at him made him actually smile a bit more genuine.

 

With the goodbyes exchanged, he worked himself out of the room. He thought he heard a quiet murmur of his name, with Midorima’s voice nonetheless, but when he turned to look at over his shoulder, he didn’t see Midorima at all. So he still hallucinated – _great_. He groaned and walked away from the noises, and dwelled back into the pain and heartache. The latter would probably never go away, but thank god there was cure for the first.


	6. Chapter 6

Five days.

 

For five days Takao waited for Midorima to message, call, or visit him. Maybe visiting was a bit too much to ask, but he hadn’t even received a single mail or a call. It should have happened since they were friends, and he hadn’t been to school in the last few days at all. Of course, Midorima couldn’t have known about the final verdict of a fractured bone and the minor surgery, but he would have known if he had made the effort the even message him!

 

Patiently Takao waited for five days. Finally, on the fifth day, he got tired of waiting. If Midorima wasn’t going to contact him – well, he would only have to contact Midorima.

 

He thought of sending a message, or maybe calling, but after a careful thought he decided to pay a visit. The sun was already on its way of setting, and if he’d go to his house, there was no way for Midorima to back down. Maybe then they could actually talk about things. Takao stretched his legs on his bed and stared at the ceiling, exhaled deeply. Midorima really had to be mad when he didn’t even want to contact him now that he was injured… He rubbed his eyes and slapped his cheek before swinging his legs over the edge.

 

Visiting was a good idea. He repeated it to himself several times and did the effort to dress up. The arm sling was a real pain in the ass, but what bothered him the most was the total ban of basketball. He itched to play, and sitting inside was slowly but surely driving him crazy. When he had finally managed to button up his shirt, he spun around. He’d need an excuse to go there. He grabbed the nearest book, not even bothering to glance what it was, and tiptoed downstairs. Mom really wouldn’t appreciate this desperate effort of trying to revive a friendship, simply because the doctor had told him not to move around much. The bottom of his stomach nipped pleasantly when he did something forbidden and sneaked out of the door.

 

The breeze felt good on his skin. Takao hugged the book against his chest and whistled a bit as he walked down the slope. The sunset was ridiculously orange, and the little kids from the neighborhood ran past him and giggled loudly. It was difficult not to smile, and so he did. His legs twitched, though, simply walking wasn’t good enough after the first turn, and he glanced around. There was no one in sight, no one to see if he’d take just few running steps. A bit of running wasn’t going to hurt anyone. There was not an ounce of hesitation in his body as he took the first faster step, then another, and another, and soon he jogged. The biggest grin brightened his expression.

 

The pain came back suddenly, as if a dagger pierced through his shoulder. He came to a halt and huffed, gripped the shoulder and gritted his teeth. _Damn, almost._ It didn’t feel good, but he had no other choice but to continue with a slow-paced walk. His heart sank to his stomach, and suddenly the sunset didn’t look that nice anymore. He thought of how many weeks, possibly months, it would take for him to be able to play basketball with everything he got, and felt discouraged.

 

It took twice as much as time for him to end up behind Midorima’s door. He hovered his knuckles against the door. His stomach twisted into a knot, and he glanced up. There was a light coming from Midorima’s room – so he had to be home. Through the curtains right next to him he noticed the figure of Midorima’s mother in the kitchen, and knew that the conditions were perfect. Midorima wouldn’t be able to escape. Still he hesitated, and his mind wavered. It was stupid to come to visit, since Midorima had made very clear that he didn’t want to have anything to do with him.

 

Takao ended up knocking the door anyway. He had walked this far, so he might as well go all the way.

 

As he expected, Midorima’s mother came to open the door. She exclaimed and smiled. “Oh, Takao, what a nice surprise!”

  
“Hey! Um, is Shin-chan home? I came to give him this, uh… manual about bikes…” Why had he taken such a book along out of all the little choices he could have had? He smiled anyway.

 

“Shintaro is still at practice…”

 

“Oh… Oh, right! Of course, it’s practice… I’ve totally forgotten, since I can’t do it.”

 

“That’s right, he was saying that you hurt your shoulder in the last match! Are you alright?” She frowned.

 

“I’m fine, I’m fine, but the doctor said not to practice…” Takao took backwards steps. “Anyway, I’ll come back later or tomorrow to give Shin-chan the book…”

 

“Oh, don’t be silly, come wait inside! I was just about to make dinner, he should be here anytime now.”

 

Not wanting to be rude, Takao took the offer and got inside. A really good scent came from the kitchen, and his stomach did growl a bit. He kicked his shoes off and followed her to the kitchen, where Midorima’s little sister was busy drawing. She had her hair in pigtails, and she had the widest smile Takao had seen in a while. When she spotted him, she jumped off from the chair and ran to him with a drawing on her hands.

 

“Look what I draw, Kazu-nii!”

 

Takao wasn’t exactly sure what it portrayed since the colorful lines went from one end of the paper to another in twirls and zigzags, but still he said, “Wow, that’s amazing! Did you really draw it yourself?”

 

“I did, I did! Does Kazu-nii want to draw with me?”

 

“Hmm… Okay! But I won’t be drawing as beautifully as you, since my hand is a bit broken.”

 

She pouted while pulling him to the table with her. “Is that why you’re wearing that funny thing on your arm?”

 

“Yup!”

 

“Does it hurt a lot?”

 

“Just a bit.” Takao smiled, placed the book on the table next to him and took the yellow pen offered to him. He looked at the paper in front of him and really did his best to draw, but it was hard with his non-dominant hand. It also had been really inconvenient in the last days, when he had a lot of pent up frustration with him but the completely wrong hand working. His eyes narrowed and he pressed his tongue against his cheek, trying to complete the Sun he was drawing. It looked really crooked and not round at all.

 

She giggled. “What is that, Kazu-nii?”

 

“The Sun! Why, doesn’t it look like it?”

 

She laughed some more and gave him a brown pencil. “Can you draw a dog, too?”

 

“One dog ordered, coming right up!”

 

It felt good to laugh along with her, Takao had to admit it. He had always liked Midorima’s little sister, she was cute and always in a good mood, as expected from someone at her age – quite the opposite of her brother. From the very first lines of the dog Takao realized that it really was going to look something completely different, but he tried nonetheless. The scent of miso twirled around in the kitchen, and little by little his tensed body began to relax. He colored the dog’s fur, although it looked like more of a misshapen splotch, and showed it to her.

 

“What do you think?”

 

“That’s a really cute dog!” She smiled brightly. “It looks really fluffy.”

 

Takao leaned closer to see her paper. “What are you drawing?”

 

“This is Kazu-nii,” she pointed the figure on the right dressed in orange allover, and then moved her finger to the other one. Even without an explanation Takao knew who exactly it was with its green hair and taller figure. He mustered a smile on his lips anyway as she said, “And this is big brother, and then there’s a basketball here, and the Sun is here, and there’s a bit of flowers here, here and here!”

 

“Amazing…”

 

There was no time for further praises, when he heard the front door open and close. His muscles tensed. He gripped the pencil tighter on his grasp and watched her jump off the chair again and run to the hallway.

 

“Brother, guess what, guess what!” Her voice echoed from afar. “Kazu-nii came to draw with me!”

 

“Kazu-nii… Huh.”

 

Takao thought for a second that his heart stopped. Midorima’s voice had never sounded sweeter than it did now. He heard his pulse right at the root of his ear, and when she pulled her big brother on the kitchen as well, Takao trembled from head to toe. He met Midorima’s eyes and swallowed, watched his friend and realized just how much he had missed him. Even his core shuddered, but somehow he managed to smile anyway.

 

“Kazu-nii came to bring Shin-chan this,” he said and showed the book.

 

Midorima frowned. “A manual for… bikes?”

 

“Just like you asked me to.”

 

Takao could pinpoint the moment when Midorima realized, and his frown smoothened. He nodded and took the book, and didn’t look at it twice when it was firmly on his grasp. Takao wanted to turn his gaze away already, but Midorima really looked good leaning against the door frame with his tall figure. Takao’s feet twitched, and his shoulder ached again.

 

“Will you come draw with me and Kazu-nii?”

 

“I’m sorry, but I think Kazu-nii and I will go upstairs to my room now,” Midorima said.

 

Without a word Takao pushed himself up on his feet and apologized to her for not being able to draw some more. His heart beat faster; hearing Midorima say _Kazu-nii_ did rather strange things to both his mind and body. Silently he followed Midorima up the stairs and into his room, and realized what had happened the last time he had been there. He stayed near the door and examined Midorima, who kept his back turned at him.

 

“Thank you for the manual,” Midorima said, “it might come handy one day.”

 

“No problem.” Takao pressed his back against the closet and looked down at his toes that wiggled. He pressed his hand behind his back and swayed back and forth, tried to come up with something to say. Could he just apologize straight away? He tried to think of the right words, but nothing came out of his dried mouth.

 

“How’s your shoulder?”

 

He pressed the back of his head against the closet as well. “It’s fine now, it got fractured and had a surgery. Total exercise ban for at least few weeks.”

 

Midorima spun suddenly around. “A surgery?”

 

“Mm… I got home yesterday.”

 

They looked at each other, although Midorima’s rather concerned expression pierced straight through Takao’s heart. He looked down at his interesting toes again and frowned deeply. Had the silence between them felt this heavy before? It was killing him. A lump rose back to his throat, and no matter how much he tried to swallow it away, he never succeeded. A dull pain ached from the shoulder to the spine and made him quiver.

 

Suddenly, Midorima stood right in front of him. Takao flinched, and his eyes widened. Midorima didn’t look at his eyes but his shirt, and brought his taped fingers to the hem of it.

 

“You’ve buttoned your shirt wrong,” he muttered.

 

The first button was opened from the bottom. It was suddenly so hot in the room, and Takao squeezed his eyes shut. Midorima was so close to him, closer than in ages, and it was enough to mess with his mind. A faint scent of sweat danced to his nostrils, and he kind of liked it; it was the scent he was most familiar with when it was about Midorima. He swallowed hard and looked down at his exposed abdomen. Midorima was either really naïve or extremely stupid. Takao couldn’t decide which fit, but still he slapped his hand away. The fingers returned within seconds, though, and once his shirt was open, Midorima began to button it close with extremely slow pace. Takao’s heart was ready to burst out from his ribcage.

 

“Are you sure you want to be this close, Shin-chan?” he asked and tried to keep his expression steady when Midorima glanced up. “If you keep being like this, I might rape you again.”

 

_Again_ something he didn’t want to say at all, something that inconveniently burst out just like that. He wanted to hit himself on the head, but Midorima’s fist bumped it gently first. Takao’s eyes widened.

 

“Don’t call it like that,” Midorima said.

 

“How am I supposed to call it, then?” He averted his gaze and felt hot under Midorima’s gaze. His shirt was now properly buttoned up, and Midorima had no reason whatsoever to stay that close – he still did. The fingers on Takao’s uninjured hand curled to a loose fist, and then tightened. His jaw clenched, and he stared at the wall nearest to them. “What else was it than that?”

 

“I would really like to know _what_ it was, indeed.”

 

Takao flinched, and too late realized that he had actually got himself cornered. He swallowed loudly, and his Adam’s apple bounced hard. He felt his body gently quivering. As Midorima pressed his palm against the closet, his arm right next to Takao’s face, it didn’t really help the situation at all. Takao glanced at the arm, the rolled up sleeve and the fine hair that covered Midorima’s goose bumps. If he watched close enough, he could tell that Midorima trembled, too. Perhaps he was actually frightened as well.

 

He sighed and pushed the arm away, said, “I’m going home.”

 

“No.” Midorima pulled Takao back to the same spot from the front of his shirt. “We’re talking about this now.”

 

“ _Now_ we’re talking about this?” Takao cringed. “Why didn’t you want to talk about it before? Or why couldn’t you even send me a single mail asking how I’m doing or if my shoulder is okay, huh? We could have talked about it then, too!”

 

“I’m sorry I haven’t send mails.”

 

“It doesn’t matter now.” He bit the inside of his cheek and looked down at his toes.

 

“It matters because it bothers you.”

 

“It doesn’t bother me.”

 

“It does.”

 

“It doesn’t!”

 

“Look at me, then.”

 

_Bastard_ , Takao thought and slowly inched his chin higher. He could look Midorima alright, if he wanted it so badly. He moistened his lips and met Midorima’s eyes, and frowned rather deep. They really still looked as beautiful as ever; it felt like it had been a little eternity since he had last looked into them like this. One of the long fingers pushed the glasses better up the nose’s ridge, and Takao parted his lips, huffed a bit. Was Midorima doing it on purpose, looking so sexy and fuckable all of a sudden? Blood gushed through his veins when Midorima leaned in, and the scent of sweat was clearer than before. Takao squeezed his eyes shut and told his mind to shut up about all the dirty ideas he had.

 

“Why did you do it?” Midorima asked again.

 

To be honest, Takao had thought of the moment when he would say _that_. He had always visualized it in a completely different scenario, but the setting of a bedroom was about right. In his visions he said it in the heat of the moment, in the midst of a passionate kiss or mind-spinning sex. What he had never included in it was this kind of moment of embarrassment and shame. He sighed.

 

“Because I love you.”

 

After saying it aloud to walls for so many time, now that it came out right in front of Midorima he didn’t feel anything different. His heart didn’t beat fast and race towards the skies like it did in comics, he didn’t fluster or stumble over his words. There definitely was no kiss straight afterwards, just confusion swirling in Midorima’s face. Takao hummed and smiled a bit when the arm disappeared near him. The disbelief on the face he loved had to be the thing that hurt the most.

 

“Wasn’t that what you expected to hear, Shin-chan?” Not being able to look Midorima in his eyes, he fixed his gaze on his lips instead. They parted, but nothing came out. Takao chuckled, and it made his chest vibrate painfully. “I told you before, it wasn’t a joke. It wasn’t a whim, either. I’ve imagined it so many times, Shin-chan, doing it with you, being naked with you, pushing my fingers inside and imagining it’s you…”

 

Midorima swallowed so loudly. Takao hummed. Soon the other would back off, he just had to be a bit pushier.

 

“It feels really good, you know, doing it with my finger, moaning Shin-chan’s—“

 

His words were cut off by a pair of lips pressed against his. He groaned, and his eyes widened from pure shock. He hadn’t leaned forward accidentally, right?! No, Midorima was kissing him, _Midorima was kissing him_ , after all the nasty things he had spouted, Midorima was kissing him. Takao stood there, frozen from head to toe, and although he wanted to kiss back the slightly dry and incredibly clumsy lips, he couldn’t. His stomach turned into a twist, and for the first time he wasn’t sure whether it was a good or a bad feeling. Heat pooled to his abdomen, too, and he knew what kind of a feeling _that_ was.

 

Too quickly Midorima pulled away, and his cheeks glowed bright red. He cleared his throat and averted his gaze, pushed his glasses better to his nose. Takao quivered and cringed. What was that now? A kiss, that had definitely been a kiss… He really hoped he wasn’t hallucinating. Although Midorima wasn’t looking at him anymore, and although he looked flustered, he was still close. Takao touched his lips and felt their moistness. Definitely not a hallucination.

 

“W-What was that about?”

 

“Because you wouldn’t shut up,” Midorima muttered.

 

“Don’t kiss me right after I confess, idiot!”

 

Midorima didn’t seem to even hear, as he brushed his fingertips over his lips over and over again with his brows furrowed. After a while Takao stopped trying to get through him and sighed. His knees really wanted to buckle and give in, and his shoulder began to ache, too. Pretty much everything went different from his plans when it was about Midorima, and he hated that. It would have been easier to know instead of end up in the epicenter of all these feelings.

 

“Why did you do that?” he demanded.

 

The glow on Midorima’s cheek still didn’t disappear. “Like I told you, you wouldn’t shut up—“

 

“Is that really it, Shin-chan?”

 

“W-Well, I wanted to see how it felt…”

 

“And?” Takao asked anxiously.

 

“It was weird and wet. I’m not sure if I liked it.”

 

Takao’s heart did one heavy beat. He couldn’t believe it. Saying something like that straight after he had confessed – did Midorima have any heart? He laughed, although there was still cringe imprinted on his face, and shook his head. He had been such an idiot to expect that there would come ‘I love you too’ from those stupid lips. His laughter echoed in the room, and he hid his eyes against his forearm. _Stupid, stupid, stupid_.

 

“I’m really going home,” he sighed under his breath when his laughter had died down. He pushed himself away from Midorima, and this time got closer to the door before the long fingers grabbed him from his shoulder to get him back. Takao let out a loud whine when the pain pierced through the tender bone, and made Midorima startle. He pulled himself free.

 

“Why are you leaving now?” Midorima asked.

 

“Why? You tell me whether you were just testing it around a bit, or do you actually love me?”

 

“I don’t love you.”

 

The answer came quickly, and it sounded certain. Takao felt that his heart just might drop out of this life anytime soon. He frowned and grimaced, tried to say something witty back, but nothing came out. Nothing. He thought of laughing again, but his vision hazed from tears instead. Drawing a sharp inhale, he brushed his thumb over his cheek and was amazed by the fact that he was really crying. A little bubble of laughter escaped his lips, and what immediately followed was a tiny sob, barely audible. He felt humiliated, ashamed, and most importantly, completely heartbroken.

 

Without a word he slammed the door open and stomped down the first two steps. Right after them Midorima grabbed his arm again.

 

“Takao.”

 

“Let me go!”

 

“Takao!”

 

“I said let me go!”

 

Takao wiggled himself free and stumbled down the next step, nearly fell but ended up pressed against the wall with his bad shoulder. He groaned and rubbed his eyes, and ran down as quickly as he could. He wanted out of here, now, _now_. The tears made his eyes itch, and they rolled down on his cheeks like he was an idiot, or a girl too deeply in love.

 

“Takao, stop.”

 

He said nothing. Instead, he grabbed his shoes from the hallway and marched towards the front door. Midorima stayed stubbornly right behind him.

 

“Kazu-nii, where are you going?” asked a voice from farther away. Takao ignored it as well and forced the door open, and walked on his socks through the narrow path.

 

“Let’s talk,” Midorima tried. “I’m sorry, I didn’t want to make you cry.”

 

Takao lost it. He spun around and threw one of his shoes against Midorima, and was more than happy to see it land straight to the other’s chest. He shouted, “If you didn’t want me to cry, then you shouldn’t have said such shit straight to my face!”

 

“Takao.” Midorima walked closer again and sighed, muttered softly, “Kazunari…”

 

Takao gritted his teeth. What a low blow, to use his name like that. He threw his other shoe at Midorima as well and marched forward, not looking behind his back anymore. He was done with Midorima, done with being in love, and completely done of the ache his heart got from all the stupid, small details.

 

“You can’t walk home without your shoes!” Midorima shouted behind him. The steps had stopped echoing, and Takao realized that the other wasn’t following him anymore.

 

“Watch me!” he yelled.

 

Even when he knew for sure that Midorima wasn’t following, he still ran. His lungs ached and his shoulder complained, but he didn’t care; he just wanted as far away as quickly as he could. Takao huffed, and without thinking twice turned around a corner he never took. After a moment longer his body couldn’t take it anymore, and he ended up leaning against the nearest wall. People passing by watched him, with pity, probably. He would have done the same, too, if he had seen a guy like him cry like this. _Pathetic._

 

Part of him actually hoped that Midorima would chase him, somehow find him here and apologize, maybe kiss him once more to test it out. He could convince Midorima, even if it would be just few kisses, he could convince Midorima that it felt good, that it was nice, that he was a guy worth loving. He chuckled and pressed his forearm as tight as he could against his eyes. Who was he kidding? A guy like Midorima would never love someone like him, he had said it himself, too. Thinking about the words made him want to vomit right to the pavement.

 

He stood still and cried for a moment longer under the watchful eyes of the by-passers.


	7. Chapter 7

“Sweetie, I’m leaving now!”

 

“Yeah, yeah,” Takao mumbled to the comic in front of him. He really loved his mother but _man_ , was he happy to know that she would be gone for few days. She was really fussy over his shoulder, and at first it had been nice, but now it started to annoy him a little. Sure, it was a sign of bottomless motherly love and he did appreciate it, but he was in the desperate need of privacy. His broken heart demanded it.

 

He flipped to the next page and frowned, quickly flipped to the next one. Why did the guy always get the girl in comics when it really wasn’t so in real life? He inhaled sharply and flipped the pages until he found the beginning of a new story. He really, really wasn’t in the mood of anything sappy and sickly sweet. His stomach turned to a knot even from the thought of it.

 

The door was carefully opened, and his mother peeked in.

 

“Kazunari?”

 

“Yeah?”

 

“I’m leaving now, honey.”

 

“I know, I answered you,” he muttered and moved the chair back properly towards the table. This actually seemed like a decent enough story with no romance, just what he wanted right now. He tried to read, but already during the first panel he felt her gaze still linger on him. Takao sighed and closed the book, rubbed his forehead and looked at her. Her lips shone bright red, and she had – carefully, no doubt – picked a small pair of earrings. She looked worried, though, and Takao sighed.

 

“I’ll be fine,” he said for the umpteenth time – he had already lost count.

 

“I know you will, but I’m just a bit worried… You have been in your own worlds lately, and you’re so silent all of a sudden…”

 

His chest ached. He stared at the cover of the comic and bit the inside of his cheek. This was so like his mom, always noticing the subtle differences in his behavior. When he looked back at her, he mustered a smile on his lips, although it wasn’t completely genuine. “It’s just the shoulder and that I can’t go to practice, don’t worry. Go before you miss the train.”

 

She lingered on the door frame and eventually nodded. “There’s food on the fridge, on the bottom shelf, and if you need anything—“

 

“—I’ll call you, yes, mom. I’ll be fine.”

 

After they exchanged their ‘I love you’s, he was finally left alone in his room. He exhaled deeply and got up, slumped down on his bed with his face pressed to the pillow. The worst part was that his mother really cared about him, thus she wouldn’t have probably minded if he would have brought Midorima home one day and introduce him as his boyfriend. He had actually waited to do that. Thinking of Midorima again – he had also lost count when it came to him –, he pressed his face harder against the pillow. He squirmed on the bed, to the point of making his shoulder shoot pain all over his body, and only by then he rolled on his side.

 

Maybe it would have been better if she hadn’t left after all. Now he was all alone with his thoughts, which was awful.

 

Takao grabbed his earphones and listened to music as loud as he could without making his ears hurt. It soothed his heart a bit, but it was only temporary, as were all of his efforts. He pulled his legs up against his chest and laid on a curl. He went through the contact list of his phone and stopped at Midorima. During the last twenty-four hours, there had been few mails and five calls. He had answered none. Now that he read those mails again, the words of _let’s talk_ or _answer me_ made the knot in his stomach tighten even more. He couldn’t think of a one sane reason why he was doing this to himself, and so he put the volume up a notch and squeezed his eyes shut.

 

For a moment he nodded off. Then, his shoulder was nudged, and he flinched. His eyes flew wide open and his heart skipped a beat, and he rolled a bit too quickly on his other side. He nearly fell on the floor from his bed, but still ready to defend himself nonetheless. Midorima stood by his bed. _Midorima_. He would have actually preferred a burglar.

 

He pulled the earphones roughly out of their place. The music still echoed from them and didn’t stop until he forced it to. He glared at Midorima, yet his mouth felt so dry. His palms, on the other hand, turned sweaty. He pulled his fingers.

 

“How did you get in?” He pushed himself to sit up and swung his legs over the edge.

 

“Your mother let me in while she was on her way out.” Midorima rubbed his neck and took a step back, looked rather wary. “I did call you from your door at least five times, but you didn’t hear me.”

 

Takao bit his lip. He really wasn’t mentally prepared for this. “What are you doing here?”

 

“I came to talk.”

 

“I think I made really clear that I have no intentions of talking to you.”

 

“What are you going to do, then? Are you going to keep avoiding me?”

 

“Yeah, I’m going to transfer to another school and start playing in another team, and if that team ever goes against Shutoku, I’ll skip all those games, and I’ll never come to see you, and you have to find someone else to pull that stupid rickshaw everywhere.”

 

“That sounds… a bit troublesome.”

 

“Who cares,” Takao muttered from the corner of his lips.

 

He jolted when Midorima suddenly sat down right next to him and placed his hand over his. Takao heard his pulse on his ears and stared at their hands. He really wanted to pull his own away and then maybe punch Midorima, but he liked the warmth of the slender fingers. He swallowed loudly and felt heat creep on his cheeks.

 

“I don’t think I want anyone else pull the rickshaw,” Midorima said.

 

Takao laughed from misery. Finally he pulled his hand away and averted his gaze. “Are you doing this on purpose?”

 

“Doing what?”

 

“ _This_. Holding my hand and talking like you care if I’d go somewhere else.”

 

“I’d hate it if you would go somewhere else.”

 

“Stop,” Takao groaned. “You made your feelings pretty clear yesterday—“

 

“I’m not sure if I love you.”

 

He was sure his heart was going to abandon him at any second now. With widened eyes he stared at Midorima, examined the slight blush of the cheeks and the eyes that keenly looked back at him behind the glasses. Takao cleared his throat and parted his lips, but at first nothing came out. He traced the tip of his tongue over his lips. A cold shiver pierced him.

 

“That’s not what you said yesterday,” he muttered.

 

“I panicked.” With his forefinger Midorima pushed the glasses to a better position. “No one expects a friend to say something like that out of the blue, do they? So I don’t know how I feel.”

 

Takao clutched the hem of his shirt.

 

“But I would like to try that again.”

 

Takao frowned. “That…?”

 

He flinched when Midorima tapped his lips with his forefinger. A kiss… That had to mean a kiss. This wasn’t happening. Takao pinched his cheek but didn’t wake up from a dream or anything. He pressed his palm against his mouth and breathed heavily through his nose. _Just calm down, he only wants to kiss you again… Be cool_. He cleared his throat and straightened his posture, pulled his legs up and sat cross-legged.

 

“We can try that again.” He tried to keep his voice as calm as possible, although his core trembled so much from pure nervousness.

 

“Hmm.”

 

Midorima inched closer, and Takao was ready for the painful experience of actually waking up after all. Their legs touched each other, pressed against each other, and Takao really felt like the girls on comics, his heart racing and weird thoughts crossing his mind at the speed of light. He told himself to calm down again when Midorima leaned close enough for their noses to press against each other. The breath hitting his face was warm, gentle, and he shuddered. He swallowed.

 

“You might want to take the glasses off,” he mumbled. “The kissing might be, uh… easier that way.”

 

Without a word Midorima did exactly that. Takao took a sharp inhale and couldn’t remember the last time he had seen those eyes like this, without hiding behind the glasses. They really looked nice, even beautiful, but when Midorima leaned back in, he closed his eyes, not wanting to stare at him cross-eyed. His heart ticked. The kiss was so close, he could feel Midorima’s lips brush over his own, why was this suddenly so nerve-wracking? He had kissed people before, he had even kissed Midorima before, but this was different, this was really—

 

His mind went blank and white when he felt the warm lips against his own. He trembled and hummed, and couldn’t hold himself back. He wrapped his arms around Midorima’s neck, pulled him closer, tilted his head. His nose pressed painfully against Midorima’s, and too quickly the kiss was over. Takao huffed, actually ashamed that he had forgotten to breathe like that. His lips tingled. He could barely glance at Midorima.

 

“How was that?” he asked.

 

“A bit too short for me to judge.”

 

Takao thought he was going to burst in tears anytime now. This was really happening, wasn’t it? After months and months of dreaming, Midorima sat on his bed and wanted to kiss him. A smile spread to his lips, and a laughter made his chest vibrate pleasantly. He felt light, worriless, and ready to test it out some more.

 

He kissed Midorima again, and this time did it as slowly and gently as he possibly could. The lips were soft, moister than he remembered, and a bit clumsy. Every now and then Midorima tilted his head the same way as he did, which resulted in awkward pauses, but even those made Takao grin. He pecked Midorima’s lips and then dove into another kiss, grunted, and parted his lips. By kissing Midorima’s bottom lip, he drew a groan out of him, and hands wrapped around his waist, pulled him closer. It surprised him, but nonetheless made him feel over the moon and slightly beyond, too. He traced the tip of his tongue over the delicious lip, and when Midorima shuddered, he pulled back.

 

He loved Midorima’s flustered look.

 

“What about that?”

 

“That was…” Midorima cleared his throat. “Um… good?”

 

“Want another one?”

 

“Mm.”

 

Midorima was being too cute. Takao tried to hold back the smile as he grabbed the other’s chin and gave him a peck, which soon deepened to a kiss. The best part was that Midorima was kissing him back, and although he did it clumsily, Takao wouldn’t have wanted it in any other way. He hummed and smiled, nuzzled Midorima’s nose and pressed his lips back against his. It got deeper again, quicker than before, and it grew desperate all of a sudden. Takao huffed and frowned, his posture straightened and his muscles tensed. His fingers curled to Midorima’s nape, and he pulled him closer grunted. _He_ was growing pretty desperate, too.

 

He thought of placing his hand on Midorima’s thigh, and his hand already dropped from the neck to the shoulder. Hesitation won him over, and he squeezed the shoulder a bit. Would Midorima run away in agony if he would do that all of a sudden? He didn’t want to risk the kissing, but he also really wanted to touch Midorima, make him excited and horny, and maybe they could test something else, too… Takao huffed and decided, _what the hell_ , to just go for it and pressed his hand right at Midorima’s thigh with no explanation.

 

He was absolutely sure he had fucked up when Midorima flinched and pulled his face away from his. Takao thought of pulling his hand away so they could at least continue with the kissing, when Midorima suddenly pressed his fingers against his. As a deep frown settled to his face, Takao glanced up and curled his finger over the thigh, making Midorima flinch.

 

“Shin-chan?” he asked, unsure of what to do. He rubbed the spot clad with fabric, but Midorima didn’t push his hand away or tell him to stop. He thought of it as a good sign and trailed his fingers a bit up, towards the other’s crotch. The fingers over his squeezed his knuckles, and Midorima looked flustered as hell. Takao smiled. “Shin-chan…?”

 

“You can do it,” Midorima murmured from the corner of his lips.

 

The words were so quiet and delicate that Takao thought he had heard wrong. He leaned closer and pressed his nose against Midorima’s, really tried not to smile so widely, but he couldn’t help himself. His hand was on his Shin-chan’s thigh, his fingers slowly crawling towards the crotch, and there was no resistance. His smile turned into a lopsided grin.

 

“Could you repeat that?”

 

“You heard me.” Midorima’s face looked redder than ever. “You can… do that.”

 

“Do what?”

 

“Don’t tease me.”

 

“But I don’t know what to do if you don’t tell me, Shin-chan…” Takao poked Midorima’s groin with his fingertips and felt the bulge beneath them. He really wanted to hear the words aloud, hear with his own ears that Midorima wanted it from him. He pulled a bit back and tilted his head, knew very well that his whole expression was illuminated with his grin and hoped to get what he wanted. He made his fingertips dance over the bulge and leaned closer again. They were just few silly words, surely there was no problem saying them aloud?

 

“Touch me,” Midorima finally grunted.

 

“Where?”

 

“You know where!”

 

Takao gave up, sort of afraid that if he pushed Midorima’s patience long enough, the whole thing would fall apart. He groped the crotch beneath his fingers and felt the body tense whenever he moved his hand a bit. Although Midorima looked flustered and flinched here and there, he really didn’t seem to oppose it so much. Takao squeezed and rubbed, felt the bulge grow, and was kind of proud of himself for turning Midorima on. He huffed, and as a grin rose to his lips, he trailed his fingers under the soft fabric of the sweatpants.

 

Midorima yelped, and Takao froze. He glanced up and frowned, but when he wasn’t scolded after all, he shoved his fingers inside the underwear. He felt the beginning of Midorima’s shape, moved his fingers over the tip and shuddered, as did Midorima. Takao really couldn’t believe the fact that he was holding Midorima’s cock after fantasizing about it so many times. It was bigger than he had thought, which certainly wasn’t a bad thing, and it twitched nicely under his grasp. He swallowed down a chuckle and tried his best to shove the pants further down.

 

“I don’t know how good this’ll feel, since it’s not my good… hand…” His voice trailed off when he looked at Midorima’s expression. It was indeed flustered, but also really erotic by now with his furrowed brows and parted lips. An inhale got stuck in Takao’s throat, and out of a whim he leaned in and kissed Midorima. For his surprise, the kiss was responded, and in the midst of it he wrapped his fingers around the cock and gave it a testing stroke. Midorima shuddered against him.

 

“Give me your hand,” Takao said.

 

“Why?”

 

“Just gimme it.”

 

Midorima did, and Takao pressed it against his own crotch. Just like he had expected, it made Midorima even more flustered and pull his hand away. A pout curled to Takao’s lips, and he gave the other the best puppy eyes he could possibly do. Hesitantly the hand came back, planted itself right on his crotch, and made him shudder, even when Midorima didn’t move it at all. _This is bad_ , he thought. It was so much better than any of his dirty fantasies, and he shoved his hand better into Midorima’s underwear, squeezed the cock. When Midorima finally did the effort to move his hand, clumsily nonetheless, Takao groaned and pressed his forehead against the other’s shoulder. If movements like this over his pants were enough to give him an erection like this, just how long was he going to survive before actually coming already?

 

“Touch me,” he grunted against Midorima’s collar bone, which was just nicely in display thanks to the rather open neckline. The shudders of another body felt good against himself. The fingers on his crotch hesitated. “Just touch me… Put your hand in my pants, Shin-chan, just do it like I do…”

 

He was sure Midorima wouldn’t do that in million years, so his abdomen tightened and heated up when his cock was suddenly touched, too. His whole body spasmed, and he moaned. Takao knew how hard his erection strained under the fingers, and in the pleasurable haze he was worried that Midorima would find it weird, or even disgusting. His heart jumped to his throat when the strokes began, and although he could have done it so much better himself even with his wrong hand, it still felt amazing. _Fuck_.

 

“Wait.” The hand was pulled away.

 

Takao groaned. “Don’t stop now…”

 

“I just need to take these off.”

 

He frowned and pulled his face away from Midorima’s shoulder, and flinched as he examined the tape come off from the long fingers. The mere sight excited him even more, but he had his doubts.

 

“Oi, Shin-chan, you know that your fingers are going to get dirty.”

 

“It’s better than have the tape dirty and ruined.” Midorima settled his hand back into Takao’s underwear and surprisingly, without hesitation, wrapped his fingers back around his cock. Takao leaned his forehead back against the shoulder and shuddered thorough, and mimicked the pace of Midorima’s movements.

 

Their breaths mingled together, and no words were exchanged. Takao felt heat rise to his stomach, to his spine and his face, and he knew that he could have easily come with just this. He held back as much as he could, bit his lip and tried to do an excellent job on making Midorima even harder and needier. He actually hoped that Hanamiya would have decided to crush his other shoulder, because jerking anyone off like this was really difficult. Takao panted softly, yet Midorima really was the louder one of them two. His groans bounced from the room’s walls so loud that they filled Takao’s ears and made him grateful that his mom wasn’t home.

 

He tried to move closer, but the position had its limits. He really wanted to press their cocks together and feel Midorima’s knuckles brush over his while they would do it, but he couldn’t move any closer. Grunting from frustration, he at least wanted to _see_ something. He pulled his hand away and got up to his knees, and hastily tried to yank Midorima’s shirt off.

 

“What are you doing?”

 

“Stripping you,” Takao muttered.

 

Naked Midorima was really the solution to this, and he really wanted to see the sight on his bed. It was another mission impossible with just one hand, and frustration built up even deeper in him. Maybe Midorima noticed it, too, when he retreated his hand from Takao’s pants and pulled the shirt over his head. Takao licked his lips and grinned, ran his fingers over the slight muscles of Midorima’s body. _Perfect_. He rubbed one of the nipples under his fingertip and made the other quiver. _Too adorable_.

 

“Why are you staring?” Midorima asked.

 

“’Cause Shin-chan looks amazing.” Takao’s smile turned sheepish.

 

Midorima sighed, shook his head, but without a doubt a hint of smile rose to his lips, too. Takao’s heart stopped for a moment, and then started to pump fiercely. That was _definitely_ a smile.

 

“Can I take your shirt off, too?”

 

Takao couldn’t have wished for anything better. “Yes, please.”

 

His shirt came undone button by button, and Midorima’s fingers trailed over his abdomen and his chest. Takao whimpered and leaned back, supported his trembling body with his only healthy hand. He still felt like lulling in a dream, and frankly, for the moment he didn’t care whether Midorima was just curious or actually wanting something deeper, he would give him whatever he wanted and a bit more.

 

Another whimper escaped him when his shirt was off and Midorima nuzzled his shoulder. The dull ache it had felt pleasant, and Midorima’s lips felt nice against his skin that bordered the gauze. His fingers twitched, and carefully he slumped down on the bed on his back. It was far from the ideal position to his shoulder, but he just wanted to feel Midorima closer than ever. The lean and tall figure of the other seemed to cover him thoroughly. Takao pushed his hips up just a bit to be able to press his crotch against Midorima’s and succeeded in it. His body followed the other’s example and became a trembling mess.

 

More kisses rained to his shoulder. He squirmed.

 

“Are you obsessed with that spot all of a sudden?” he chuckled under his breath.

 

Midorima pushed himself up on his arms and looked down. Takao swallowed as he looked into the eyes that were as serious as ever, and blinked. His chest rose heavily to the rhythm of his breaths, and his cock strained, nestling under his pants.

 

“I’m sorry I didn’t call,” Midorima said.

 

“W-What? What’s this all of a—“

 

“And I’m sorry I avoided you.”

 

“Hey, it’s fine now.” Takao’s smile wavered a bit. This was perhaps one of the rare subjects that he really didn’t want to go through now, out of all the times.

 

“It’s not fine.” Midorima looked like a lost little puppy when he leaned closer and pressed his lips against Takao’s. The kiss tasted sweet and moist, and Midorima’s breath was warm when he pulled a little back. “I panicked… But this isn’t as bad as I thought.”

 

“Was that a compliment?”

 

“Well, yes, I’d like to think it is.”

 

“You’re so ridiculous, Shin-chan.” Takao grinned and traced his fingers over Midorima’s chin. The other didn’t tremble so much anymore. “But that’s what I love about you.”

 

Midorima looked flustered yet again, and it looked gorgeous. Takao sighed from content and tried to push himself up, but his shoulder complained. For a while he had wanted to believe that it was alright thanks to the nice kisses, but he was really wrong. He cringed and brought his fingers over the aching spot, tried to soothe it because he wanted no handicap.

 

“Stay still,” Midorima said. “We can do it like this… Right?”

 

_Do it_ … Takao couldn’t help but smirk. That was definitely an invitation for sex. He nodded.

 

“I don’t know how good at it I’ll be, though.”

 

“Haven’t you ever watched AVs?” Takao asked.

 

“Wh-Why would I watch such things?”

 

“For practice, maybe?” His tone was singsong-y as he traced his fingers from Midorima’s chest to his abdomen and into his pants. Takao brushed over the pubic hair and nudged the pants down just a bit to see the sight, and his smirk widened. Midorima quivered, and Takao’s heart skipped few beats. It felt cozy to be underneath the other. Heat pooled to his own abdomen and made his erection weep for attention.

 

“What should I do?” Midorima asked.

 

“Hmm, I wonder…” Takao’s body twitched as he thought of all the possibilities he had right in front of him. He moved his hand back up and pointed at his nipple. “You could lick this?”

 

“That?” Midorima sounded suspicious.

 

“Mm, it feels really good, you know, to pinch it and so on, probably feels good when you bite it, too.” He licked his lips and took his nipple between his fingers, tugged it, pulled it and twisted it ever so slightly. His hips spasmed, and he hummed, grinned. It didn’t take long for Midorima to brush his hand away as he leaned closer. The lips felt moist and burning hot against his nipple, and Takao huffed. He couldn’t believe that Midorima had fallen for such a simple trap, but at least he had gotten what he wanted.

 

A loud moan escaped from him when Midorima grazed his teeth against the sensitive spot. Takao grunted and brushed his knuckles over Midorima’s cheek, wrapped his legs around the other’s waist to hold him close. His skin tingled, and his cock twitched. By now he realized that this was a bad idea – he was ready to burst whenever Midorima bit or accidentally sucked his nipple. He pressed his palm against Midorima’s forehead and forced him further away.

 

“Can you take my pants off?” he breathed.

 

Midorima startled. He blinked, but without a word nodded. Takao squirmed when the warm hands did as he told, but painfully slowly his pants inched lower along with his underwear. When he finally laid naked, he felt no ounce of embarrassment at all. It was clearly the opposite of Midorima, who blushed all the way to his hairline. Takao had to bite his lip to hold down a laughter. Midorima was being way too adorable, and he liked it. He _loved_ it.

 

“Like it?” he asked and pushed his hips up from the bed. He examined Midorima’s gaze avert, and then slowly return. Takao knew exactly where the eyes were looking, and he was suddenly rather proud of his erection. He wrapped his free hand to Midorima’s neck and pulled him close, gave him a deep kiss and forgot himself completely to the moment. With ease he parted his lips and let his tongue dance with Midorima’s. Heat rose all over his body, and when he felt Midorima’s clothed crotch rub against his naked one, he was ready to have sex straight away. He curled his finger tighter against the soft nape and hummed to the kiss, frowned and wanted more.

 

“Take the lube,” he huffed against Midorima’s lips. He felt lightheaded and couldn’t get enough of it.

 

Midorima pulled his lips back but pressed his nose tight against Takao’s. Takao muttered a soft ‘ow’ but kept his eyes closed. Midorima asked, “The what?”

 

“Lube. It’s that small bottle on the nightstand.”

 

“Mm-hmm… And then?”

 

“Then… Nhn, just pour it to your fingers.”

 

Takao heard the familiar sound of the thick liquid coming out of the bottle. His heart jumped to his throat, and he nuzzled Midorima’s neck, bit his collarbone and then kissed the spot. He pressed his legs back on the mattress and parted his thighs better, and held Midorima still close.

 

“Then touch me,” he groaned.

 

“Where?”

 

Takao laughed and pressed the back of his head against the pillow. Midorima was adorably oblivious.

 

“Stick your fingers to my ass.”

 

It was worth seeing Midorima’s face twist from confusion. Takao couldn’t help but laugh some more, and soon Midorima’s expression relaxed.

 

“A joke, right?” Midorima even smiled a bit.

 

The laughter still vibrated in Takao’s chest. “Not this time. Just put them there, don’t be shy, it’ll feel amazing.”

 

The smile disappeared from Midorima’s lips, and he swallowed loudly. He nodded, however, and inched himself slightly lower. Takao took a deep breath and pressed his heels against the bed, spread his thighs even wider, wanting to give Midorima the most lewd sight he had ever seen. He couldn’t believe it was happening, that instead of his own fingers pretending they were Midorima’s, he would actually feel the real thing. His stomach tingled pleasantly, and he shuddered. When Midorima continued with his hesitation, Takao poked his groin with his toes.

 

“Just rub it a bit and push them in, it won’t hurt,” he promised. His heart melted to the fact that Midorima was actually conscious of not hurting him. He smiled. “Just… Nhnh…”

 

Midorima had begun rubbing the puckered skin of Takao’s entrance before he could even finish his sentence, and it felt insane. Takao’s body spasmed, and he let out a loud moan when the first finger pushed in with ease. His toes curled and his hips arched higher, and he begged for the second one. It took a while for him to get it, but when he did, it felt pleasant. He wrapped his fingers around his cock and squeezed, and clumsily stroked it. Few seconds later it seemed that Midorima realized that there was more to do than just hold his fingers inside, and he moved them, pushed them a bit deeper. Takao’s breath hitched, and he shuddered.

 

“Is it bad?” Midorima asked.

 

“No… Feels really good.” Takao huffed. “Can you, mm… push them deeper?”

 

When it happened, he had to squeeze the base of his shaft to keep himself from coming. He was never this fast, but it felt so much better than in any of his fantasies. Blood gushed harshly through his veins, his heart pounded hard in his chest, yet he wanted more. The fingers moved sluggishly inside him, still hesitantly, and he wasn’t fully satisfied. Frustration built inside him right next to the heat. He groaned.

 

“Just put your thing inside!”

 

“What?” Midorima asked.

 

“Hurry!”

 

“I…”

 

“You want it, right?” Takao glanced up at Midorima and parted his lips. Shock went through his system and didn’t leave it alone. Midorima wanted this… right? This wasn’t just another one of those situations where they had ended up from his pressure, _right_? Takao swallowed and stopped his fingers from stroking himself. He didn’t know what he’d do if Midorima didn’t want this now. “You… want this, right?”

 

Midorima hesitated. _Hesitated_.

 

“Oh, god,” Takao whimpered. He covered his eyes to his forearm.

 

“Of course I want it,” Midorima huffed. “I haven’t done this before, you can expect me to be as experienced as you.”

 

Takao’s heart jumped to his throat. He drew a sharp inhale and punched Midorima to his shoulder and made him grunt. “Don’t freak me out like that! I was seriously already in my mind filling applications to transfer schools and—“

 

He got silent as he was kissed out of the blue. His eyes widened, but soon he relaxed underneath Midorima and gave him a one-armed hug. Even when the kiss ended, he didn’t let go anymore and instead buried his face to Midorima’s neck. Now that he thought about it, the faint scent of sweat wasn’t there like the time they had been in Midorima’s room, but this scent was better, more natural, something that he wanted to sniff for the rest of his life. He kissed Midorima’s earlobe.

 

“Put it in,” he whispered.

 

He felt a nod and heard the rustling of pants. Here it was, the real thing. Truth to be told, he had only experiment with fingers – his personal best was three –, but there had never been anything substituting Midorima’s dick. Takao took a deep breath and wrapped his arm tighter around the other’s nape, squeezed his eyes shut. He wasn’t afraid of the pain but the reaction he could possibly give out, which could freak Midorima out. Was it really going to be painful? His body twitched when he felt the hardness against his entrance. It was most likely going to be like ripping a plaster, quick and usually—

 

“Ow!” he hissed when the tip of the cock pushed in. He huffed and took a deep breath, chuckled a bit. _Ow_. _Ow, ow, ow_.

 

“I’m pulling out,” Midorima hurried to say.

 

“No!” Takao wrapped his legs around Midorima’s waist and kept him in a tight lock. He smiled, although the pain on his ass felt stinging. This was way out of his league. “Just kidding, Shin-chan, just kidding… You should have seen your face!”

 

He masked the whimpers of pain underneath his laugh. Little by little Midorima eased himself deeper in him, and Takao thought something would tear in any moment. He held his breath and felt dizzy, squeezed his eyes shut, and by the time everything started to spin around him, it felt like it wasn’t going to get any deeper. He peeked down towards their crotches.

 

“All in?” he asked.

 

“You…” Midorima squeezed Takao’s cheek and made him yelp. “It’s hurting, isn’t it?”

 

“No, not at—“ He mewled when Midorima moved ever so slightly. He sighed underneath the other’s harsh glare. “Yeah, it does a bit… But since we came this far, you might as well go for it completely, right?”

 

Midorima sighed, but his lips turned to a small smile. His fingers traced over Takao’s cheek and brushed it gently. “What am I going to do with you…”

 

“What did you say?”

 

“Nothing.”

 

Takao soon found himself unable to say anything, when Midorima made the first thrust. He groaned and pressed his head back against the pillow, his fingers clutching the blanket. It wasn’t just a bit painful, it was _a lot_ painful, even when he had been absolutely sure that he had prepared himself properly for this. He squeezed his eyes tighter shut and took a deep inhale. His hole twitched around Midorima’s cock, and he felt the other tremble. At least something good about this. Takao smiled.

 

“Are you alright?” Midorima asked.

 

“Mm… You can move if you want.”

 

Midorima’s hips felt hesitating when they thrust in with a slow pace. Takao moaned and moved his hand to his navel, trailed it lower and grabbed his cock as Midorima’s hands found their way to his hips. Their bodies locked together, and Takao was ready to burst from simple happiness. The dampness of Midorima’s skin, the warmth, all of it, it was too good to be true. He pressed his face tighter against Midorima’s neck and sucked the skin, heard from so close how Midorima huffed. The cock inside him twitch, and it actually felt good. Kind of hot.

 

The pain never disappeared, but Takao did his best to keep himself occupied by rubbing over the tip of his cock. Little by little a pleasant heat spread in every crook of his body, and it seemed that Midorima was really enjoying himself, too. The thrusts became harder, quicker and higher, and Takao whimpered, his hips barely able to keep up in the rhythm. The hands that felt surprisingly large held him from his waist, and Takao felt happy, rather lucky – he got to do this with his Shin-chan. After that, nothing else was going to matter.

 

The thrusts turned desperate. They were too quick for Takao to handle it, and he was sure his body was going to break. His heart was ready to burst out of his chest, at least.

 

“Ka-Kazunari…” whimpered Midorima.

 

_No way._ Takao inhaled sharply and squeezed his cock, but before he was able to say anything, Midorima shuddered thoroughly, and suddenly everything stopped. There was no movement anymore, just Midorima’s deep breaths and chest rising hard up and down. Something trickled down Takao’s ass, and his eyes widened. _No way._ He chuckled, a bit breathless himself. How adorable! Midorima had whimpered his name right on his climax. Takao grinned and sank his teeth to the other’s neck. Midorima quivered more and huffed.

 

“That good?” Takao whispered and kissed the earlobe.

 

“Mm…” Slowly Midorima pulled out and pressed his palms on the bed on both sides of Takao’s body. His cheeks glowed, yet his gaze was firmly fixed on Takao’s face. “You?”

 

“Still up,” Takao huffed.

 

Both of them looked down at his crotch and his dick that still strained hard. Takao licked his lips and rubbed the tip, felt rather odd now that there was nothing inside him. His hole twitched, convulsed, and every time it happened, an ache shot through his body. He cringed.

 

“Can I…?” Midorima’s hand loomed over the cock.

 

Eagerly Takao nodded and moved his hand away, groaned when the familiar fingers curled around his length. This wasn’t bad at all, to just lay back and let Midorima do the work. The fingers moved fast and efficiently, the thumb pressing over the tip several times, and Takao’s abdomen tightened. His toes curled, and his back arched. He forgot to breathe for the single moment, and hastily he tried to push Midorima’s hand away, not wanting to dirty it any more than this. He was too late, though, and he came, straight to the precious fingers. He huffed, and his body didn’t stop its spasms. The shuddering seemed to go on and on, but at least it was warm in Midorima’s embrace.

 

When the climax eventually bypassed and instead came the afterglow, Takao felt more relaxed than ever. Not a single muscle of his body was willing to move, and he liked that. He swallowed between his huffs and brushed Midorima’s soft and still rather red cheek. They shared a smile, which was rare, and on top of that a kiss sweeter than Takao had ever gotten. He was more than ready to jump to cloud nine right on the spot. His body tingled pleasantly, and wept when Midorima pulled away and got up.

 

Takao followed Midorima’s movements with his gaze, watched the body being buried carelessly under the first pieces of clothing found – right pants but wrong shirt –, and pouted. The pout disappeared as soon as Midorima glanced at him and smiled.

 

“I’m going to get a warm towel so I can clean you up.”

 

He was loved just a bit, wasn’t he? He reached his hand towards Midorima and managed just in time to clutch the hem of the shirt.

 

“Shin-chan?”

 

“Yeah?”

 

Takao pulled the shirt and forced Midorima to come closer. He crooked his finger and got what he wanted – another kiss. It was deeper than the last one, and it made his mind filled with thoughts of Midorima even when he was right in front of him. It was funny how different it had been; the Midorima in his fantasies was loud and talking dirty, yet the Midorima in front of him was quiet and whimpering. He definitely preferred the latter.

 

Although the kiss lingered, it eventually ended. Takao licked the moistness away from his lips and ruffled Midorima’s hair, gave him a sheepish smile.

 

“Come back soon.”

 

Midorima’s expression softened. He stroked Takao’s forehead and said, “Yes.”

 

When Midorima left to the search of a towel, Takao laid still on his bed. His heart pounded. It didn’t feel lonely at all, as he knew that Midorima would be back within seconds. He felt stupid and silly, smiling so widely over such a simple fact, but he couldn’t help himself. Even the throbbing pain on his lower body didn’t bother at all, and he rolled on his back and examined the ceiling. Had it always looked this nice?

 

He felt lucky. Luckier than lucky. Also, just a tiny bit loved, in Midorima’s own way. If this was a dream, he wasn’t going to wake up any time soon. He rolled back on his side and faced the door, and prepared the biggest smile on his lips when Midorima would come back. When the moment came, and Midorima hadn’t run away from the front door, Takao realized his vision became blurry. As the most ridiculous smile brightened his whole expression, he wiped away the tears and welcomed Midorima back.


	8. Chapter 8

Takao saw a dream of having sex with Midorima, and they did it gently, rather lovingly. Waking up from it was the worst part, but at least the warm bed embraced him and soothed him in the midst of his disappointment. _If only_ , he thought and squirmed. All of his body ached, and a dull pain had settled itself to the depths of his stomach. He sighed.

 

“Shin-chan fucking me…” he muttered and sighed deep. “What a nice dream.”

 

“It wasn’t a dream, idiot.”

 

He flinched. _No way_. His heart jumped near his throat. Now that he thought about it, it wasn’t his bed embracing him but hands that were familiar and belonged to certain someone that had ravaged him in his sleep. _No way_. Takao peeked over his shoulder and saw nothing else but a bush of green bed-hair. Confusion twirled and mixed to the aching, but slowly a smile rose to his lips. Midorima, in his bed, hugging him from behind, rubbing his sleepy eyes, then nuzzling his neck.

 

Even winning the lottery wouldn’t have felt this good.

 

“Shin-chan?” he asked, in case it was an impostor after all. His smile, however, was permanently stuck on his lips.

 

“Mm?”

 

“It’s you, right?”

 

“Who else would it be?”

 

“Well, I don’t know…” Takao’s heart was going crazy. He looked back in front of him and tried to wipe the stupid smirk away from his face. By now he was more than aware of the arms holding him close, the warm body pressed against his, and the feeling of Midorima’s chest rising peacefully against his back. He pinched his cheek and whimpered, confirmed the fact that it hurt and this was no longer a dream.

 

“What are you doing?” Midorima asked in the midst of his yawn.

 

“Huh?”

 

“You’re squirming and making weird sounds… Are you okay?”

 

“Perfectly fine, Shin-chan,” Takao said and looked over his shoulder again. It wasn’t good enough, though, and he turned around to get face to face with Midorima. He had never seen this side of him, the sleepy, almost grumpy-looking side, which looked just as adorable as every other side, to be honest. He poked Midorima’s chin and nuzzled it. He examined the other’s face some more, listened the yawns, and something stirred inside him.

 

Suddenly overwhelmed by the feeling, he buried his face against Midorima’s neck and squeezed his eyes shut. It had to be happiness, bottomless happiness that made his stomach turn upside down and made him want to cry just a bit. Takao wrapped his arm around Midorima and squeezed him tight, pulled him close. He sniffed and tried to muffle the sound to the neck in front of him.

 

It didn’t quite succeed. Midorima startled in his embrace, tried to pull farther away. “Takao, hey, are you really alright?”

 

“Just let me be like this a bit longer.”

 

There was no protest, so Takao pulled Midorima back against himself and held him tight. The morning was serene, and the first rays of sun penetrated through the sheer curtains into the room. Everything seemed so still around them, and this was the way how Takao wanted to wake up, quite possibly for the rest of his life. He didn’t want this to be the last time he could embrace Midorima like this, and the thought made his chest tightened. He hugged Midorima even better.

 

“Glasses,” Midorima suddenly muttered.

 

Takao counted to five and only then rolled on his back and stretched his hand towards the nightstand where the glasses were patiently waiting. He watched the sluggish movements of the fingers that had touched him yesterday, and blinked a bit when Midorima looked at him, properly seeing him now for sure. A smile melted to his lips. Midorima, however, seemed rather serious. He cleared his throat and settled his glasses better to the ridge of his nose.

 

“Can I borrow your phone?”

 

“Sure,” Takao muttered and passed his phone. “What are you going to do with it?”

 

“Oha Asa.”

 

“Oh, right, right…”

 

Midorima looked really serious. Takao pressed his cheek against the pillow and yawned sweetly, rubbed his eyes. It was almost too beautiful morning to be actually true. Midorima looked really nice and sexy as he leaned against his palm and kept his eyes fixed on the phone. Thinking what today’s lucky item might have been – hopefully something ridiculous, so he could witness Midorima carry it around –, he closed his eyes and smiled to the thought. The sounds were different from the usual morning; this time, it wasn’t just his own breath that he heard. It made his spine tingle pleasantly.

 

“Takao.”

 

“Mmh?”

 

His eyes fluttered open just in time when Midorima suddenly kissed him. Takao blinked and hummed, and his heart did happy somersaults from the surprise. He sighed and melted to the bed, stretched his hand towards Midorima’s cheek and gave into the kiss. It tasted bad, of the usual morning flavor, but it had a nice undertone of a night spent together. The tip of Midorima’s nose felt cold against his, and Takao rubbed it just a bit. The kiss was quickly over, but he gave Midorima a peck, which turned into five others.

 

At the end of it he smiled brightly. Midorima looked surprisingly flustered, and he tightened his grasp from the phone.

 

“My lucky item today,” he said under his breath, “a morning kiss.”

 

Takao stared at Midorima for a while, and then chuckled. _A morning kiss?!_ He licked his lips and smiled, watched Midorima’s glimmer with slight saliva. He hummed and leaned closer, muttered, “Extra luck,” and kissed him again. While Midorima got engrossed with the kiss, Takao snatched the phone away from him and laughed, turned his back at the other and stretched his hand far away from Midorima.

 

“Oi, Takao, give it back!”

 

“Not yet, I’m gonna check Oha Asa, too!”

 

There was a bit of wrestling, and a lot of laughter coming from Takao, but eventually he pressed his hand against Midorima’s cheek and pushed him farther away. His stomach hurt from the laughing, and he only grasped the phone when Midorima’s face was completely red. He hummed and went to Cancer immediately. Slowly a wide smirk rose to his face.

 

“What’s this, Shin-chan?” he teased. “Where’s that morning kiss you were talking about? All I can see is ‘something with unicorn’ on Cancer’s lucky item, huh…”

 

“Stop looking at it,” Midorima hissed.

 

Takao closed the phone and dropped it on the nightstand, and nudged Midorima’s shoulder. “You could have just told me you wanted a kiss from me, you know.”

 

“You…”

 

Takao laughed and leaned in, placed his lips gently over Midorima’s again and enjoyed every second of it. A hand crept around his waist and held him close, and a familiar warmth wrapped around his body. He could have done the whole kissing thing for ages, at least until he’d lost count of how many they exchanged with each other. Midorima’s lips were warm, and although the kiss still tasted of morning, Takao felt – as stupid as it sounded – butterflies in his stomach.

 

When he finally pulled back, but continued to linger right next to Midorima, he huffed, “I don’t think we can be friends anymore.”

 

Midorima flinched. However, he moved his hand to Takao’s naked back and traced his spine with his fingertips. Eventually he said, “I agree.”

 

“So how about boyfriends from now on?”

 

Another flinch. Takao glanced up and grinned. He continued, “Nothing too serious, don’t worry! But we can try it out and if you don’t feel like it after all, we’ll just take the ‘boy’ out and be friends again.”

 

“And you are okay with that?”

 

“Hmm…” Takao pinched Midorima’s cheek and made him yelp. “For now. Soon you’ll fall for me completely, Shin-chan, so don’t worry. I’ll be calling you my lover before it’s winter, I’m kinda sure of that.”

 

Midorima leaned in and kissed the root of Takao’s ear, made the other flustered. He murmured with a soft tone, “I’m looking forward to that.”

 

Takao felt his cheeks glow for sure, but with a big grin he attacked Midorima, wrestled with him like little boys, and found his way on top of him. He kissed him, indulged to it, and couldn’t have possibly felt happier. When Midorima’s hands found their way to Takao’s waist and pulled him close, _kept_ him close, Takao thought that maybe, just maybe he could call Midorima his lover a bit sooner than winter. Only if he was lucky enough to pull it off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's over (。ヘ°)
> 
> I want to thank everyone who took the time to read this and left kudos and/or comment(s) over these long eight weeks. For me, who rarely - or to put it better, never - publishes fan fiction, it means the world, and I couldn't wish anything more. Thank you very much!!


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